A superconducting thermal switch with ultrahigh impedance for interfacing superconductors to semicon

Abstract

A number of current approaches to quantum and neuromorphic computing use superconductors as the basis of their platform or as a measurement component, and will need to operate at cryogenic temperatures. Semiconductor systems are typically proposed as a top-level control in these architectures, with low-temperature passive components and intermediary superconducting electronics acting as the direct interface to the lowest-temperature stages. The architectures, therefore, require a low-power superconductor/semiconductor interface, which is not currently available. Here we report a superconducting switch that is capable of translating low-voltage superconducting inputs directly into semiconductor-compatible (above 1,000 mV) outputs at kelvin-scale temperatures (1 K or 4 K). To illustrate the capabilities in interfacing superconductors and semiconductors, we use it to drive a light-emitting diode in a photonic integrated circuit, generating photons at 1 K from a low-voltage input and detecting them with an on-chip superconducting single-photon detector. We also characterize our device’s timing response (less than 300 ps turn-on, 15 ns turn-off), output impedance (greater than 1 MΩ) and energy requirements (0.18 fJ m−2, 3.24 mV nW−1). A superconducting switch that is capable of translating low-voltage superconducting inputs directly into semiconductor-compatible outputs at kelvin-scale temperatures could provide a superconductor-to-semiconductor logical interface for future quantum and neuromorphic computing architectures.

Cite this article

McCaughan, A.N., Verma, V.B., Buckley, S.M. et al. A superconducting thermal switch with ultrahigh impedance for interfacing superconductors to semiconductors. Nat Electron 2, 451–456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-019-0300-8

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