Matteo Castellani, Owen Medeiros, Alessandro Buzzi, Reed A. Foster, Marco Colangelo & Karl K. Berggren
DOI: 10.1038/s41928-025–01376‑4
Abstract:
Superconducting thin-film electronics can offer low power consumption, fast operating speeds and interfacing capabilities with cryogenic systems such as single-photon detector arrays and quantum computing devices. However, the lack of a reliable superconducting two-terminal asymmetric device, analogous to a semiconducting diode, limits the development of power-handling circuits, which are fundamental for scaling up such technology. Here we report a robust superconducting diode with tunable polarity using the asymmetric vortex surface barrier in niobium nitride micro-bridges. The diode offers a 43% peak rectification efficiency and half-wave rectification up to 120 MHz. We also integrate several of the diodes to create a bridge rectifier circuit on a single microchip that can perform continuous full-wave rectification at up to 3 MHz and alternating to direct current conversion of a 50 MHz signal in periodic bursts with an estimated peak power efficiency of 50%.