A research team from TU Delft University has developed superconducting materials that could allow computers to run hundreds of times faster than they do today.
Design of a superconducting chip based on new materials. (Photo: TU Delft)
Associate Professor Mazhar Ali and his colleagues at TU Delft published their new research on April 27 in the journal Nature, detailing the development of a superconducting diode that could significantly enhance computer performance. Superconducting materials have the potential to enable electronic devices to operate hundreds of times faster while preventing energy loss. However, they require a magnetic field to prevent the material from conducting electricity in all directions, making them unsuitable for conventional computers.
The TU Delft research team has provided an alternative solution to control the direction of current in superconducting materials without the need for magnets. They utilized a quantum material called Nb3Br8, developed by physicists and materials scientists at Johns Hopkins University. Similar to graphene, this material is ultra-thin and exhibits electrical bipolarity.
Ali and his team created a “quantum material Josephson junction” with two layers of superconducting material separated by a layer of Nb3Br8. “We can scrape off two atomic layers of Nb3Br8 to create a very thin buffer layer just a few atoms thick, allowing us to construct a Josephson junction that conventional 3D materials cannot achieve,” Ali explained.
According to the researchers, technologies that previously could only utilize semiconductor materials can now employ superconducting materials with their design. This technology will enable the production of computers operating at terahertz speeds, which is 300 to 400 times faster than current computers. The research team is developing various devices to test the superconducting material with the Josephson junction and has found that it facilitates the operation of strong direct current without the need for a magnetic field.
However, one obstacle they need to overcome is the material’s availability at room temperature. Experiments have been conducted at extremely low temperatures (-196 degrees Celsius). If the TU Delft research team can find a way to apply the material at room temperature, they can move on to the next step of exploring whether the technology can be scaled for mass production. They are confident that the new superconducting material is best suited for use in central server networks and supercomputers.
