Granted Patent B2

US 12,658,922 · App. 18/914,433 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Faraz Najafi (San Francisco, CA); Qiaodan Jin Stone (Sunnyvale, CA)

Assignee: PsiQuantum Corp.

H03K19/195G01J1/44H10N60/30H10N60/84G01J2001/442

Abstract

Claims (14)

1 . A programmable superconducting circuit, comprising:

a superconducting component arranged in a multi-dimensional array of alternating narrow and wide portions, wherein the wide portions are configured to function as thermal dissipaters to prevent heat from spreading between adjacent narrow portions;

a plurality of heat sources, each heat source thermally coupled to a respective narrow portion of the multi-dimensional array, wherein each heat source is configured to selectively provide heat sufficient to transition the respective narrow portion from a superconducting state to a non-superconducting state; and

a plurality of electrical terminals, each electrical terminal coupled to a respective wide portion of the multi-dimensional array.

2 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the wide portions have a width that is at least ten times greater than the width of the adjacent narrow portions.

3 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the narrow portions have a width in a range of 150 nanometers to 1 micron, and the wide portions have a width in the range of 1 micron to 100 microns.

4 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting component is patterned from a single thin film of superconducting material selected from the group consisting of niobium and niobium alloys.

5 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a current source coupled to the superconducting component, the current source configured to selectively vary current to adjust a logical operation performed by the circuit between different modes.

6 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting component is arranged in a two-dimensional array with curved edges to reduce current crowding and capacitive coupling between wide portions.

7 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one narrow portion has a distinct shape from other narrow portions and a correspondingly distinct heat source.

8 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , further comprising an output circuit coupled to at least one of the electrical terminals, the output circuit configured to detect current flow corresponding to logical outputs.

9 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein each heat source comprises a semiconductor configured to generate heat via resistive heating.

10 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting component is arranged in a three-dimensional array.

11 . The programmable superconducting circuit of claim 1 , wherein the narrow portions in a first subset of the narrow portions have a first shape and a first impedance when not in the superconducting state, and the narrow portions in a second subset of the narrow portions have a second shape, different from the first shape, and a second impedance, different from the first impedance when not in the superconducting state.

Continuity (9)

References Cited (256)