Time-Resolved Optical Measurements from 0.13μm CMOS Technology Microprocessor Using a Superconducting Single-Photon Detector

Abstract In this paper we examine the use of the Superconducting Single-Photon Detector (SSPD) [1] for extracting electrical waveforms on an IBM microprocessor fabricated in a 0.13µm technology with 1.2V nominal supply voltage. Although the detector used in our experiments is prototype version of the one discussed in [1] demonstrating lower performance, we will show that it provides a significant reduction in acquisition time for the collection of optical waveforms, thus maintaining the usability of the PICA technique for present and future low voltage technologies.