Interface Development and Automation of TCSPC system - Brinda Puri

Quantum Technologies are developing faster and more secure information processing
than ever before. R-lab is focused on developing photonic technology which is ideal for
long distance quantum communication through experimental quantum nanophotonics. In
particular SiC color centers with applications in quantum sources, repeaters and
simulators. Their characterization is done through 2D photoluminescence scanning and
time resolved spectroscopy.
An important instrument used in the development is the Time-Correlated Single Photon
Counting (TCSPC) system. TCSPC acts as a stopwatch for detection of a single photon
with reference to another signal. The user interface is given as a default by the system
however the interface lags and isn’t as friendly. This makes data difficult to interpret and
manual controls are not intuitive. In response, this project was taken up with the aim to
create a better interface with the future possibility of being able to automate detection of
color centers producing these single photons by using PyQt, Qt Designer and the
Picoharp API. We hope to be able to make data collection easier leaving more time for
equipment set up, increasing accuracy and reducing human error.
Image source :
Blacker, Thomas & Sewell, Michael & Szabadkai, Gyorgy & Duchen, Michael. (2019).
Metabolic Profiling of Live Cancer Tissues Using NAD(P)H Fluorescence Lifetime
Imaging: Methods and Protocols. 10.1007/978-1-4939-9027-6_19.