Demonstration of a superconducting nanowire microwave switch

Abstract

The functionality of a nanowire integrated into a superconducting transmission line acting as a single pole single throw switch is demonstrated. The switch has an instantaneous bandwidth from 2 to 8 GHz with more than 10 dB of isolation between the open and closed states. The switch consumes no power in the closed state and ≈15 nW in the open state. The rise and fall response time between open and closed states is approximately 370 ps.