Niobium (Nb)

Superconducting Materials

High-Tc Superconductor for Resonators & Wiring

Tc = 9.3 K

Niobium (Nb)

High-Tc Superconductor for Resonators & Wiring

Role in quantum circuits

Microwave resonators, transmission lines, ground planes, multi-layer wiring

Why it matters

Niobium’s higher critical temperature gives a wider thermal margin. It is the material

of choice for resonators and readout structures in high-qubit-count processors. Sputter-deposited as thin films, it enables scalable multi-layer chip architectures for 50–100 qubit systems.

Key facts

  • Type II superconductor — operates well in moderate magnetic fields

  • Widely used in SRF (superconducting radio-frequency) cavities

  • Preferred for multi-layer, high-qubit-count chip stacks

  • Sputter-deposited as thin films on Si or sapphire wafers

  • Critical for scalable quantum processor architectures