We review several recent theoretical and experimental results in the study of superconductor hybrids. This includes the recent experimental advances in the study of superconducting beamsplitters as well as more advanced superconductor hybrid systems including ferromagnets or Majorana fermions. In the same manner, theoretical studies have revealed that such superconductor hybrid systems pave the way towards electronic generation and detection of entanglement as well as possible use cases in quantum computing. We will review the aspects in detail and illustrate the possible next steps to be taken.
We review several recent theoretical and experimental results in the study of superconductor hybrids. This includes the recent experimental advances in the study of superconducting beamsplitters as well as more advanced superconductor hybrid systems including ferromagnets or Majorana fermions. In the same manner, theoretical studies have revealed that such superconductor hybrid systems pave the way towards electronic generation and detection of entanglement as well as possible use cases in quantum computing. We will review the aspects in detail and illustrate the possible next steps to be taken.
Hybrid semiconductor-superconductor qubits have recently emerged as a promising alternative to traditional platforms, combining material advantages with device-level tunability. A defining feature is their gate-tunable Josephson coupling, enabling superconducting qubit architectures with full electric-field control and offering a path toward scalable, low-crosstalk quantum processors. This approach seeks to merge benefits of superconducting and semiconductor qubits, for instance by encoding quantum information in the spin of a quasiparticle occupying an Andreev bound state, thus combining long coherence times with fast, flexible control. Progress has accelerated through bottom-up engineering of Andreev states in coupled quantum dot arrays, leading to architectures such as minimal Kitaev chains hosting Majorana zero modes. In parallel, Hamiltonian-protected designs aim to enhance resilience against local noise and decoherence by exploiting superconducting phase dynamics and discrete charge or flux degrees of freedom. This article reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in hybrid qubits, providing an overview of physical mechanisms, device implementations, and emerging architectures, with emphasis on their potential for (topologically) protected quantum information processing. While many designs remain at proof-of-concept stage, rapid progress suggests practical demonstrations may soon be achievable.
The hybrid quantum system composed of superconductor and cold atoms is expected to achieve fast quantum gates, long-life quantum storage and long-distance transmission through optical fibers, making it one of the most promising hybrid quantum systems to realize optical interconnection between two superconducting quantum computers. In this paper, we comprehensively review the recent research advancements in the optical interconnection of two superconducting quantum computers, based on the superconductor and cold atoms hybrid quantum system, specifically the review covers the coherent coupling between superconducting chips and cold atoms, the coherent microwave-to-optics conversion, and the long-range microwave interconnection between superconducting qubits and quantum converters. The system is expected to provide a physical and technical foundation for practical optical-fiber interconnection of two superconducting quantum computers, and have broad applications in distributed superconducting quantum computation and hybrid quantum networks.
Hybrid quantum systems aim at combining the advantages of different physical systems and producing innovative quantum devices. In particular, the hybrid combination of superconducting circuits and spins in solid-state crystals is a versatile platform to explore many quantum electrodynamics problems. Recently, the remote coupling of nitrogen-vacancy center spins in diamond via a superconducting bus was demonstrated. However, a rigorous experimental test of the quantum nature of this hybrid system and, in particular, entanglement is still missing. We review the theoretical ideas to generate and detect entanglement and present our own scheme to achieve this.
Following the demonstration of semiconductor-based Josephson junctions, which are fully tunable by electrical means, new routes have been opened for the study of hybrid semiconductor–superconductor qubits. These include semiconductor-based transmon qubits, single-spin Andreev qubits, and fault-tolerant topological qubits based on Majorana zero modes. In this perspective, we review recent progress in the path toward such hybrid qubit designs. After a short introduction and a brief digression about the historical roadmap that has led to the experimental state-of-the-art, the emphasis is placed on superconducting qubits based on semiconductor nanowires.
The seven papers included in this special section highlight recent progress in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronic and photonic devices and systems. The papers include two reviews on recent developments in superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, one review on Josephson Light Emitting Diodes, one on hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum devices and the last one on nanoSQUIDs. The contributed papers are on the electromagnetic properties of superconducting-based photonic crystal structures. We hope you will find this issue to be an insightful and interesting reference that will provide useful information, impact, stimulate, and promote further advances in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronics and photonics.
Quantum computing aims at overcoming the limitations of conventional computers. Over the last few decades quantum computing has seen significant advances, particularly in superconducting quantum processor architecture based on superconducting qubits. In our work, we have provided a review over the superconducting qubits, their types, and the advantages these possess over other forms of qubits. Besides the theoretical aspects, we have also discussed different challenges and recent advancements that have been made till now in dealing with those challenges. With this review we lay out some future opportunities in this field and motivate further research in this field.