https://news.mit.edu/2021/nanowire-superconducting-transistor-0211 Skip to content | Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Top Menu| * Education * Research * Innovation * Admissions + Aid * Campus Life * News * Alumni * About MIT * More | Search MIT Search websites, locations, and people [ ] See More Results Suggestions or feedback? MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Subscribe to MIT News newsletter Browse Enter keywords to search for news articles: [ ] Submit Browse By Topics View All - Explore: * Machine learning * Social justice * Startups * Black holes * Classes and programs Departments View All - Explore: * Aeronautics and Astronautics * Brain and Cognitive Sciences * Architecture * Political Science * Mechanical Engineering Centers, Labs, & Programs View All - Explore: * Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) * Picower Institute for Learning and Memory * Media Lab * Lincoln Laboratory * Haystack Group Schools * School of Architecture + Planning * School of Engineering * School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences * Sloan School of Management * School of Science * MIT Schwarzman College of Computing View all news coverage of MIT in the media - Subscribe to MIT newsletter - Close Breadcrumb 1. MIT News 2. Nanowire could provide a stable, easy to make superconducting transistor Nanowire could provide a stable, easy-to-make superconducting transistor Inspired by decades-old MIT research, the new technology could boost quantum computers and other superconducting electronics. Daniel Ackerman | MIT News Office Publication Date: February 11, 2021 Press Inquiries Press Contact: Abby Abazorius Email: abbya@mit.edu Phone: 617-253-2709 MIT News Office Media Download superconducting nanowire | Download Image Caption: MIT researchers are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics. Credits: Image: Christine Daniloff, MIT *Terms of Use: Images for download on the MIT News office website are made available to non-commercial entities, press and the general public under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license. You may not alter the images provided, other than to crop them to size. A credit line must be used when reproducing images; if one is not provided below, credit the images to "MIT." Close superconducting nanowire Caption: MIT researchers are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics. Credits: Image: Christine Daniloff, MIT Previous image Next image Superconductors -- materials that conduct electricity without resistance -- are remarkable. They provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Beyond their physical peculiarity, superconductors are also useful. They're found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices can be finicky. Often, they're expensive to manufacture and prone to err from environmental noise. That could change, thanks to research from Karl Berggren's group in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The researchers are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics. The nanowire's potential benefits derive from its simplicity, says Berggren. "At the end of the day, it's just a wire." Berggren will present a summary of the research at this month's IEEE Solid-state Circuits Conference. Resistance is futile Most metals lose resistance and become superconducting at extremely low temperatures, usually just a few degrees above absolute zero. They're used to sense magnetic fields, especially in highly sensitive situations like monitoring brain activity. They also have applications in both quantum and classical computing. Underlying many of these superconductors is a device invented in the 1960s called the Josephson junction -- essentially two superconductors separated by a thin insulator. "That's what led to conventional superconducting electronics, and then ultimately to the superconducting quantum computer," says Berggren. However, the Josephson junction "is fundamentally quite a delicate object," Berggren adds. That translates directly into cost and complexity of manufacturing, especially for the thin insulating later. Josephson junction-based superconductors also may not play well with others: "If you try to interface it with conventional electronics, like the kinds in our phones or computers, the noise from those just swamps the Josephson junction. So, this lack of ability to control larger-scale objects is a real disadvantage when you're trying to interact with the outside world." To overcome these disadvantages, Berggren is developing a new technology -- the superconducting nanowire -- with roots older than the Josephson junction itself. Cryotron reboot In 1956, MIT electrical engineer Dudley Buck published a description of a superconducting computer switch called the cryotron. The device was little more than two superconducting wires: One was straight, and the other was coiled around it. The cryotron acts as a switch, because when current flows through the coiled wire, its magnetic field reduces the current flowing through the straight wire. At the time, the cryotron was much smaller than other types of computing switches, like vacuum tubes or transistors, and Buck thought the cryotron could become the building block of computers. But in 1959, Buck died suddenly at age 32, halting the development of the cryotron. (Since then, transistors have been scaled to microscopic sizes and today make up the core logic components of computers.) Now, Berggren is rekindling Buck's ideas about superconducting computer switches. "The devices we're making are very much like cryotrons in that they don't require Josephson junctions," he says. He dubbed his superconducting nanowire device the nano-cryotron in tribute to Buck -- though it works a bit differently than the original cryotron. The nano-cryotron uses heat to trigger a switch, rather than a magnetic field. In Berggren's device, current runs through a superconducting, supercooled wire called the "channel." That channel is intersected by an even smaller wire called a "choke" -- like a multilane highway intersected by a side road. When current is sent through the choke, its superconductivity breaks down and it heats up. Once that heat spreads from the choke to the main channel, it causes the main channel to also lose its superconducting state. Berggren's group has already demonstrated proof-of-concept for the nano-cryotron's use as an electronic component. A former student of Berggren's, Adam McCaughan, developed a device that uses nano-cryotrons to add binary digits. And Berggren has successfully used nano-cryotrons as an interface between superconducting devices and classical, transistor-based electronics. Berggren says his group's superconducting nanowire could one day complement -- or perhaps compete with -- Josephson junction-based superconducting devices. "Wires are relatively easy to make, so it may have some advantages in terms of manufacturability," he says. He thinks the nano-cryotron could one day find a home in superconducting quantum computers and supercooled electronics for telescopes. Wires have low power dissipation, so they may also be handy for energy-hungry applications, he says. "It's probably not going to replace the transistors in your phone, but if it could replace the transistor in a server farm or data center? That would be a huge impact." Beyond specific applications, Berggren takes a broad view of his work on superconducting nanowires. "We're doing fundamental research, here. While we're interested in applications, we're just also interested in: What are some different kinds of ways to do computing? As a society, we've really focused on semiconductors and transistors. But we want to know what else might be out there." Initial funding for nano-cryotron research in the Berggren lab was provided by the National Science Foundation. Share this news article on: * Twitter * Facebook * LinkedIn * Reddit * Print Related Links * Karl Berggren * Research Laboratory of Electronics * Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science * School of Engineering * MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Related Topics * Quantum computing * Sensors * electronics * Nanoscience and nanotechnology * Research Laboratory of Electronics * Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs) * MIT Schwarzman College of Computing * School of Engineering * Department of Energy (DoE) * NASA * National Science Foundation (NSF) Related Articles Illustration of electrons against hexagonal pattern Physicists create tunable superconductivity in twisted graphene "nanosandwich" Quantum chip graphic Explained: Quantum engineering Image of neonlike glowing red lines on a black background Generating photons for communication in a quantum computing system Previous item Next item More MIT News zoom shot of mlk luncheon Ijeoma Oluo: "What we are fighting for is Black joy" Keynote speaker at MIT's annual MLK Celebration says fighting white supremacy requires far more than just reducing its harm. Read full story - Illustration showing photos of nine people arranged in a honeycomb format RAND study finds significant social and economic impacts by Lemelson-MIT Prize-winning inventors Awardees have created new products, companies, and even entirely new industries, employing over 40,000 workers. Read full story - red blue networks How shared partisanship leads to social media connections Twitter experiment shows clear self-selection into social media "echo chambers" due to political preferences. Read full story - Valeria Robayo Valeria Robayo named a Reimagine Challenge winner Inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, the MIT sophomore has proposed a centralized resource app for those who need help. Read full story - Photo of a man in a white lab coat and blue gloves looking at an opaque white square material Brewing up a dirty-water remedy (and more) with kombucha-inspired biosensors PhD student and 2017 J-WAFS graduate fellow Tzu-Chieh Tang designs living materials to solve environmental challenges, with an emphasis on safety and scalability. Read full story - Artist's conception of a super-Earth exoplanet with its star in the background Research updates from TESS: Hunting for worlds beyond our solar system MIT scientists present exoplanet data at the 237th American Astronomical Society meeting. Read full story - * More news on MIT News homepage - More about MIT News at Massachusetts Institute of Technology This website is managed by the MIT News Office, part of the MIT Office of Communications. News by Schools/College: * School of Architecture and Planning * School of Engineering * School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences * MIT Sloan School of Management * School of Science * MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Resources: * About the MIT News Office * MIT News Press Center * Terms of Use * Press Inquiries * Filming Guidelines * RSS Feeds Tools: * Subscribe to MIT Daily/Weekly * Subscribe to press releases * Pitch a story * Submit campus news Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Top Level Links: * Education * Research * Innovation * Admissions + Aid * Campus Life * News * Alumni * About MIT * Join us in building a better world. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA Recommended Links: * Visit * Map (opens in new window) * Events (opens in new window) * People (opens in new window) * Careers (opens in new window) * Contact * Privacy * Accessibility * + Social Media Hub + MIT on Twitter + MIT on Facebook + MIT on YouTube + MIT on Instagram