Superconducting materials make computers 400 times faster

A team from TU Delft University has developed a superconducting material that allows computers to run hundreds of times faster than today.

New material-based superconducting chip design.

Associate Professor Mazhar Ali and colleagues at TU Delft University published new research on April 27 in the journal Nature, detailing the development of a superconducting diode that could significantly boost computer performance. Superconducting materials have the potential to make electronic devices operate hundreds of times faster, while avoiding energy loss. However, a magnetic field is needed to prevent the materials from conducting electricity in all directions, which means they are not suitable for conventional computers.

The team at TU Delft offers an alternative to controlling the direction of current in superconducting materials without the use of magnets. They used a quantum material called Nb3Br8 developed by physicists and materials scientists at Johns Hopkins University. Similar to graphene, the material is super thin and has an electric dipole.

Ali and colleagues created a "quantum material Josephson junction" with two layers of superconducting material separated by a layer of Nb3Br8. "We were able to scrape off two atomic layers of Nb3Br8 and create a very thin buffer only a few atoms thick, helping to build Josephson junctions that conventional 3D materials can't do," explains Ali.

According to the researchers, technologies that were previously only able to use semiconductor materials can now use superconducting materials in their designs. This technology will allow the production of computers at speeds of several terahertz, 300-400 times faster than today's computers. The team built various devices to test superconducting materials with the Josephson junction and found that it enables strong DC currents to operate without the need for a magnetic field.

One hurdle they need to overcome, however, is availability at room temperature. The tests took place at extremely cold temperatures (-196 degrees Celsius). If the team at TU Delft can figure out how to apply the material at room temperature, they could take the next step in understanding whether the technology is scalable for mass production. They believe the new superconducting material is best suited for use in central servers and supercomputer networks.