Picosecond precision: ID Quantique Time Controller uses CERN ASIC

The Swiss company ID Quantique (IDQ) has incorporated the PicoTDC ASIC, a time-to-digital converter originally developed by the Electronic Systems for Experiments group at CERN, into their flagship ID1000 Time Controller. The resulting technology combines CERN’s expertise in ultra-precise time-to-digital conversion with IDQ’s leadership in quantum detection systems, enabling cutting-edge performance for scientific and industrial applications.

“Collaborating with CERN was a pleasure from start to finish. Moreover, the PicoTDC chip enabled our product to achieve nearly 3-ps timing resolution across up to five channels, something that would have been unimaginable otherwise.”

Mathias D., hardware architect at ID Quantique

This level of performance enables applications across multiple high-impact domains. In astronomy and quantum optics, the ID1000 supports the QUASAR project, which aims to develop a 20 ps resolution spectrometer for intensity interferometry on the world’s largest telescopes. In nanophotonics, PicoTDC-enabled timing is used to characterise ultra-compact photonic crystal nanolasers operating at 1550 nm for telecommunications. In high-speed photon detection, the system enables multi-pixel superconducting nanowire detectors, achieving gigacount-per-second (Gcps) detection rates with photon-number resolution.

Beyond research, PicoTDC is used for clock recovery and synchronisation in quantum communication systems, reinforcing CERN’s contribution to emerging quantum networks through transferable hardware technologies.

Today, ID Quantique delivers ID1000 systems to clients across all continents, bringing CERN-developed picosecond timestamping from the Geneva region to laboratories and industrial users worldwide. This collaboration illustrates how a local partnership between CERN and a regional high-tech company can generate global scientific and economic value.

CERN technical contacts:  David Porret (EP Department) and Jorgen Christiansen, ex-senior microelectronics engineer.