A recent study published in Nature Electronics and carried out by researchers from nanoGUNE’s Quantum Hardware research group, Quantum Motion, London Center for Nanotechnology, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge introduces a new superinductor created within a silicon integrated circuit fabricated in a commercial complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process.

Superinductors are electrical inductors that are engineered to have an extremely large inductance, often far beyond what can be achieved with conventional coils. They are particularly important for superconducting qubits and quantum circuits, as a large inductance can dramatically alter the circuit’s quantum behavior. This makes superinductors interesting for quantum technology, as they enable the creation of circuits with very large impedance and very small inductive energy scales.

In this work, researchers show that superconducting circuit elements can be fabricated with a commercial CMOS process by utilizing titanium nitride (TiN). TiN is particularly well suited for this purpose because of its high kinetic inductance, which makes it possible to create compact, high-inductance circuit elements while maintaining robust superconducting properties.