Superconducting Field-Programmable Gate Array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024080029-A1
Application number	US-202318387402-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 6, 2023
Priority date	Feb 14, 2018
Publication date	Mar 7, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A programmable circuit includes a superconducting multi-dimensional array. The programmable circuit further includes a plurality of photon detectors coupled to respective portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array, each photon detector configured to selectively provide input to a corresponding respective portion sufficient to transition the corresponding respective portion from a superconducting state to a non-superconducting state. The programmable circuit also includes one or more electrical terminals coupled to respective second portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A programmable circuit, comprising:
a superconducting multi-dimensional array; a plurality of photon detectors coupled to respective portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array, each photon detector configured to selectively provide input to a corresponding respective portion sufficient to transition the corresponding respective portion from a superconducting state to a non-superconducting state; and one or more electrical terminals coupled to respective second portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array.

2 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein in a first configuration, the superconducting multi-dimensional array is configured to perform a logical operation.

3 . The programmable circuit of claim 2 , wherein in a second configuration, the superconducting multi-dimensional array is configured to perform an additional logical operation that is different from the logical operation of the first configuration.

4 . The programmable circuit of claim 3 , wherein the logical operation comprises one or more of: a logical AND operation; a logical OR operation; a majority gate operation; and an input counting operation.

5 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting multi-dimensional array is a two-dimensional array.

6 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting multi-dimensional array is patterned from a single thin film of superconducting material.

7 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a current source coupled to the superconducting multi-dimensional array, the current source configured to provide a current to the superconducting multi-dimensional array.

8 . The programmable circuit of claim 7 , wherein the current is adapted to maintain the superconducting multi-dimensional array in a superconducting state in the absence of a signal from the plurality of photon detectors.

9 . The programmable circuit of claim 7 , wherein the current source is further configured to reset the superconducting multi-dimensional array after the superconducting multi-dimensional array transitions to a non-superconducting state.

10 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photon detectors is electrically isolated from the superconducting multi-dimensional array.

11 . The programmable circuit of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of photon detectors are positioned adjacent to the respective portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array.

12 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a readout circuit coupled to one of the one or more electrical terminals.

13 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of input components coupled to respective third portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array, the plurality of input components configured to maintain the respective third portions in one or more steady states.

14 . The programmable circuit of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of input components comprise a plurality of semiconductor components.

15 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , further comprising one or more reference nodes coupled to the one or more electrical terminals.

16 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the respective portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array each have a width ranging from 50 nanometers to 5 microns.

17 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the respective portions of the superconducting multi-dimensional array each have a length ranging from 200 nanometers to 2 microns.

18 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting multi-dimensional array includes a first number of columns and a second number of rows, wherein the first number is different than the second number.

19 . The programmable circuit of claim 1 , wherein a first set of columns of the superconducting multi-dimensional array have a first number of rows, and a second set of columns of the superconducting multi-dimensional array have a second number of rows, different from the first number.

Assignees

• Psiquantum Corp

Inventors

• Najafi Faraz
• Jin Stone Qiaodan

Classifications

• H03K19/195 Primary

  using superconductive devices · CPC title

• G01J1/44

  Electric circuits {(for command of an exposure part G03B7/02)} · CPC title

• H10N60/30

  Devices switchable between superconducting and normal states · CPC title

• H10N60/84

  Switching means for devices switchable between superconducting and normal states · CPC title

• G01J2001/442

  Single-photon detection or photon counting · CPC title