Superconducting optical-to-digital converter

A method for transducing an optical signal to a digital representation of information modulated on the optical signal having a modulation bandwidth, comprising:

• producing an asynchronous pulsatile electronic signal corresponding to a modulation of the optical signal and having a constant pulse rate in an absence of perturbation, and a variable pulse rate in excess of the modulation bandwidth when subject to perturbation by the optical signal, with at least one optically-responsive superconductor circuit comprising an optically-responsive Josephson junction;
• synchronizing the asynchronous pulsatile electronic signal with a clock signal with a clocked synchronizer;
• and
• converting the synchronized pulsatile electronic signal into a multibit digital representation of the information with a clocked digital circuit.

A transducer for receiving a wavelength division multiplexed optical signal and generating digital representation of information modulated on different channels of the wavelength division multiplexed optical signal, comprising:

• a plurality of microring resonators, each microring resonator having a respective resonance to allow a respective channel of the wavelength division optical signal at a respective wavelength and having a modulation bandwidth;
• and
• a plurality of optically-responsive superconductor circuits, each respective optically-responsive superconductor circuit being associated with a respective microring resonator,
• each respective optically-responsive superconductor circuit comprising:
• an optically-responsive Josephson junction, configured to receive the allowed respective channel of the wavelength division optical signal of a respective microring resonator and, to produce an asynchronous pulsatile electronic signal having a constant pulse rate in an absence of optical signal intensity, and a variable pulse rate in excess of the modulation bandwidth of a respective channel of the wavelength division multiplexed optical signal and corresponding to the information modulated on the respective channel of the wavelength division multiplexed optical signal;
• a clocked synchronizer having a synchronized pulsatile electronic signal output;
• and
• a digital circuit configured to convert the synchronized pulsatile electronic signal output into a multibit digital representation of the information modulated on the respective channel of the wavelength division multiplexed optical signal.