Fearless Single-Photon Detection: Leveraging Rust for Scientific Instruments
summary
Rust runs the whole instrument stack: async firmware on microcontrollers using Embassy on STM32, a Linux main controller built with Yocto and meta-rust, and autogenerated Python and TypeScript bindings from a JSON5 spec; microcontrollers talk to the main unit over CAN with postcard serialization. The detector chips achieve 80% efficiency and timing of a few picoseconds while operating near 2 K, and a WebSocket API supplies real‑time events—everything is built, integrated, and working in deployed lab units.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Single-photon detectors and Rust
- 1:04Photon detection challenges
- 3:29SNSPDs for high-efficiency detection
- 5:32Why Rust for scientific instruments
- 8:03Rust-based detector system architecture
- 10:49Embedded Linux and Rust on control unit
- 13:18Lab instrument communication interfaces
- 16:08SCPI standard and API design
- 19:39Multiple APIs from one spec
- 21:46Code generation for Rust, Python, TypeScript
- 23:09STM32 firmware in Rust
- 25:17Rust drivers for unsupported hardware
- 27:43Sync vs async in embedded drivers
- 30:11Rust in production: challenges and benefits
- 32:59Q&A on CAN bus, serialization, vendor support
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