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AssigneeHypres, Inc.
InventorsSergey K. Tolpygo, Denis Amparo, Richard Hunt, John Vivalda, Daniel Yohannes
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Superconducting integrated circuits require several wiring layers to distribute bias and signals across the circuit, which must cross each other both with and without contacts. All wiring lines and contacts must be fully superconducting, and in the prior art each wiring layer comprises a single metallic thin film. An alternative wiring layer is disclosed that comprises sequential layers of two or more different metals. Such a multi-metallic wiring layer may offer improved resistance to impurity diffusion, better surface passivation, and/or reduction of stress, beyond that which is attainable with a single-metallic wiring layer. The resulting process leads to improved margin and yield in an integrated circuit comprising a plurality of Josephson junctions. Several preferred embodiments are disclosed, for both planarized and non-planarized processes. These preferred and other methods may be applied to digital circuits based on Rapid Single Flux Quantum logic, and to quantum computing using Josephson junction qubits.
A superconducting integrated circuit configured to dynamically switch at a superconducting temperature, comprising:
A method of forming a superconducting integrated circuit, comprising:
A Josephson junction comprising a junction barrier layer sandwiched between two superconducting layers, whereby at least one protective layer is in contact with at least one of the two superconducting layers, and whereby the at least one protective layer is superconductive, or induced into superconductivity at superconducting temperatures by proximity to the at least one of the two superconducting layers, wherein at superconducting temperatures the protective layer conducts a current without resistance between the first and second superconducting layers without switching, and acts to decrease a density of defects in the Josephson junction due to impurities diffusible in at least one of the two superconducting layers at room temperature.
A superconducting integrated circuit configured to dynamically switch at a superconducting temperature, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.