Prof. Berggren is the faculty head of electrical engineering and the Julius A. Stratton Professor in Electrical Engineering and Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he co-heads the Quantum Nanostructures and Nanofabrication Group. From 1996 to 2003, Prof. Berggren served as a staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, and from 2010 to 2011, was on sabbatical at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
His current research focuses on superconductive circuits, electronic devices, single-photon detectors for quantum applications, and electron-optical systems.
Prof. Berggren has taught a range of subjects, including Digital Communications, Circuits and Electronics, Fundamentals of Programming, Applied Quantum and Statistical Physics, Introduction to EECS via Interconnected Embedded Systems, Introduction to Quantum Systems Engineering, and Introduction to Nanofabrication.
Prof. Berggren is a fellow of AAAS and a fellow of IEEE. He is a Kavli fellow, and a recipient of the 2015 Paul T. Forman Team Engineering Award from the Optical Society of America. In 2016, he received a Bose Fellowship and was also a recipient of the EECS Department’s Frank Quick Innovation Fellowship and the Burgess (‘52) & Elizabeth Jamieson Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2024, he was named an MIT MacVicar fellow.
Presentation Title:
Superconducting Nanowire-Based Single-Photon Detectors
Presentation Abstract:
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors have emerged over the past two decades as the pre-eminent photodetector technology for quantum information science. They find use across quantum information disciplines including computing, sensing, and communications, enabling high quantum efficiency in the infrared spectrum, high photon count rates, low dark counts, and excellent timing precision. The nanowires themselves, however, exhibit interesting unique physical properties, ranging from electrothermal instabilities to ultra-high “kinetic” (non-magnetic) inductance. Recent work has better elucidated the mechanisms by which they operate, ranging from the microscopic to macroscopic level, opening up options for future improvements and engineering. This presentation will provide an overview of the nanowire detectors, the physics of their operation, and discuss a recently emerging related electronic device family.