And scientists at General Electric Co in Schenectady, New York say they have put a superconducting film on a silicon chip and got it to work at temperatures warmer than liquid nitrogen for the first time anywhere. The matching of a superconductor and silicon is vital because of silicon’s dominance in the microelectronics field. Previous attempts to apply a superconducting film on silicon had failed because the layers mixed during the annealing process. The problem was solved by using a buffer layer of the zirconia heat-resistant metallic oxide, and the thin film remained superconducting at temperatures of up to 190oC.
GE SUCCESSFULLY BONDS SUPERCONDUCTOR TO SILICON
