Belgian semiconductor research center imec has announced a major advance in superconducting computing technology, demonstrating what it says are the world’s first three-metal-level niobium-titanium-nitride (NbTiN) Josephson junction circuits alongside superconducting interconnects scaled to just 30 nanometers. Presented at the 2026 Applied Superconductivity Conference, the achievement represents an important step toward making superconducting electronics more scalable and potentially suitable for the enormous computing requirements emerging from artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and other next-generation applications.

At the center of the breakthrough is niobium-titanium nitride, a superconducting material containing niobium that enables the fabrication of extremely compact superconducting circuits. Imec demonstrated Josephson junction diameters as small as 150 nanometers, allowing circuit design densities of approximately 3.8 million junctions per square centimeter. The organization also demonstrated three layers of dense NbTiN routing, including superconducting wires scaled to a linewidth of only 30 nanometers — roughly ten times smaller than what can currently be achieved using conventional niobium-based superconducting technology.

The potential impact extends well beyond simply producing smaller circuits. Superconducting electronics could dramatically reduce the energy required to perform and move computations, an increasingly important challenge as AI infrastructure grows. Imec estimates that superconducting technology could potentially deliver a 100-fold improvement in energy efficiency and up to 1,000-fold improvements in compute density and broadcast bandwidth compared with state-of-the-art CMOS technology. Superconducting interconnects also operate with effectively zero electrical resistance, creating the possibility of moving information through computing systems with extremely low energy consumption and signal loss.

Imec is now building a broader superconducting digital program around the technology, targeting semiconductor foundries, hyperscale computing companies and system developers. Importantly, the platform uses 300mm CMOS-compatible processes, helping create a potential bridge between niobium-based superconducting devices and the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem already responsible for producing the world’s most advanced chips. The program combines process technology, circuit design and electronic design automation with 2.5D and 3D heterogeneous integration, allowing superconducting components to potentially operate alongside other semiconductor technologies within increasingly sophisticated computing architectures.

While AI and high-performance computing represent major opportunities, the implications could ultimately reach much further. Imec sees potential applications in quantum-computing control and readout, photonics, neuromorphic computing and high-resolution single-photon detection for areas including space and biomedical technology. The latest results do not mean superconducting processors are about to replace conventional silicon, but they demonstrate how niobium-containing materials could play an important role in overcoming the scalability and energy limitations facing next-generation computing. As global demand for AI and advanced computing infrastructure continues to accelerate, niobium’s role may increasingly extend beyond its established industrial applications and into some of the world’s most advanced semiconductor technologies.