The various embodiments described herein include methods, devices, and systems for operating superconducting circuits. In one aspect, an electric circuit includes: (1) a superconductor component having a first terminal at a first end and a second terminal at a second end; (2) a gate component thermally-coupled to the superconductor component at a first location between the first terminal and the second terminal, where the gate component is thermally-coupled via a first section of the gate component; and where the gate component has a smallest width at the first section so as to focus resistive heating toward the superconductor component.