SCENET roadmap for superconductor digital electronics

Physica C-superconductivity and Its Applications, 2010

e x e c u t i v e s u m m a r y For four decades semiconductor electronics has followed Moore's law: with each generation of integration the circuit features became smaller, more complex and faster. This development is now reaching a wall so that smaller is no longer any faster. The clock rate has saturated at about 3-5 GHz and the parallel processor approach will soon reach its limit. The prime reason for the limitation the semiconductor electronics experiences is not the switching speed of the individual transistor, but its power dissipation and thus heat.

2008

Superconductor Science and Technology, 2003

This paper gives a brief review of superconducting electronics in research and industry. Examples will show how science benefits from the development and how superconducting devices have found their way into industry and to some commercial products. Impact in terms of enabling new research in other fields (e.g. radio astronomy, medicine), in industry (certification, safety, metrology, etc) and in terms of market will be addressed. From the examples, two fields will be emphasized: superconducting detectors for astronomy and the superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) employed for different applications.

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1993

We have developed a family of digital logic circuits based on superconducting flux flow transistors that show high speed, reasonable signal levels, large fan-out, and large noise margins. The circuits are made from high-temperature superconductors (HTS) and have been shown to operate at over 90 K. NOR gates have been demonstrated with fan-outs of more than 5 and fully loaded switching times less than a fixture-limited 50 ps. Ring-oscillator data suggest inverter delay times of about 40 ps when using a 3-pm linewidths. Simple flip-flops have also been demonstrated showing large noise margins, response times of less than 30 ps, and static power dissipation on the order of 30 nW. Among other uses, this logic family is appropriate as an interface between logic families such as single flux quantum and conventional semiconductor logic.

2004

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

The predictions of Moore’s law are considered by experts to be valid until 2020 giving rise to “post-Moore’s” technologies afterwards. Energy efficiency is one of the major challenges in high-performance computing that should be answered. Superconductor digital technology is a promising post-Moore’s alternative for the development of supercomputers. In this paper, we consider operation principles of an energy-efficient superconductor logic and memory circuits with a short retrospective review of their evolution. We analyze their shortcomings in respect to computer circuits design. Possible ways of further research are outlined.

NanoScience and Technology, 2011

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 2000

We present a new kind of rapid-single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) output driver together with a pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (p-HEMT) amplifier both operating at liquid helium temperature. The passive interconnect including the interchip connection between the RSFQ output driver and the first transistor stage of the semiconductor amplifier is the key element for signal matching and was optimized for minimizing the reflections to the RSFQ circuit. The RSFQ output driver is based on a single-flux-quantum to dc converter and a voltage doubler. The circuit is realized in the Niobium based 1 kA/cm process of FLUXONICS Foundry and provides up to 438-V output voltage. We demonstrate high-speed experiments of the output driver in combination with two different semiconductor amplifier circuits at liquid helium temperature. The output voltage of a 2-Gb/s data stream was measured to be about 3.5 mV.

IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, 1993

One of the remarkable histories in recent decades has been the rapid and predictable advances made by silicon technology, especially for digital applications. Work stations are now available whose performance surpasses that of A. Processors supercomputers of a decade ago. Furthermore, new parallel architectures have entered the marketplace which have There are ma astounding performance for at least some applications. In the electronics and face of this competition it is fair to ask if there is room for conference. We superconducting computers even with their superior powerpower requirem speed advantage. This paper examines this issue and reported loaded highlights one of the prime deficiencies of superconducting dissipating only electronics, the lack of a credible memory. We also argue that other technology. it would be advantageous to intimately combine superconducting and semiconducting technologies to enhance the performance of both technologies.

1993

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