I-Corps: Translation Potential of Ferroelectric Materials with Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (FeSQUID) Cryogenic Control Electronics for Quantum Computing

This I-Corps project is based on the development of electronic technology that integrates ferroelectric materials with superconducting devices for quantum computing control hardware. Today’s quantum computers require thousands of cables connecting room-temperature control electronics to processors operating near absolute zero, creating a “wiring bottleneck” that limits scalability beyond a few hundred qubits (quantum bit; the basic unit of information used to encode data in quantum computing). Each additional qubit demands multiple control lines, and scaling to the thousands of qubits for practical computation would require tens of thousands of cables and exceed the thermal and physical constraints of current cooling systems. This technology is a cryogenic chip-based solution that could replace this cabling infrastructure by placing control electronics directly alongside quantum processors inside the cooling system. Users may include quantum computing hardware companies (IBM, Google, Rigetti, PsiQuantum) and national laboratories (Oak Ridge, Sandia, NIST) that are actively seeking cryogenic control solutions for next-generation quantum processors. It may accelerate the timeline to practical quantum computing, and resolve the wiring bottleneck that is a fundamental barrier to scaling quantum processors beyond 1,000 qubits. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a superconducting device assembly comprising a ferroelectric superconducting quantum interference device (FeSQUID) integrated with heater cryotron thermal switches. This technology is a cryogenic superconductive electronic assembly that integrates ferroelectric materials with Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) and heater cryotron (hTron) switches to create voltage-controlled, non-volatile logic gates and memory arrays for operation at sub-Kelvin temperatures. The core mechanism exploits the ferroelectric polarization state of a thin-film layer to modulate the critical current of a superconducting SQUID, producing two electrically distinguishable logic states without requiring magnetic flux or bulky inductive components. The underlying technology is differentiated from competing approaches such as cryo-CMOS, single flux quantum logic, and magnetic Josephson junctions by its voltage-controlled, non-volatile switching capability at sub-Kelvin temperatures, enabling operation directly alongside quantum processors without the impedance-matching networks or magnetic components required by alternatives. This FeSQUID-based logic and memory platform is designed to replace portions of this room-temperature control stack with compact, low-power cryogenic processors and non-volatile memory sitting directly alongside the qubit plane. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.