Key components for quantum technologies – MARQUAND Research Consortium

The MARQUAND project was a joint effort by the Walter-Schottky Institute (WSI) at the Technical University of Munich and kiutra.

This project was set up with the aim of developing and operating highly efficient single-photon detectors with low dark count rates.

WSI researched superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. These thin sensor stripes are temporarily turned from the superconducting to the normal conducting (resistive) state by the impact of a photon and can thus detected even very faint light signals. For their optimal operation, these detectors need to be cooled to very low temperatures.

kiutra developed a completely new, compact, and cryogen-free platform for the operation of cryogenic detectors at temperatures well below 1 K (-272,15° C). While typical cooling techniques for sub-Kelvin temperatures demand complex setups with rare and costly cryogens such as Helium-4 and Helium-3, our magnetic refrigeration has minimal infrastructure requirements, facilitating the operation of low-temperature detectors even at large scale and in a non-laboratory environment.