The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 09) was held in June 2009 in Fukuoka, Japan. The conference was very successful, with 253 participants from 17 countries. This special issue is a compendium of selected papers based on the technology presented at that meeting. ISEC has established itself as the leading meeting specializing in superconductor-based electronics and has been organized every two years since 1987. This conference provides an opportunity to present the latest developments in superconductive electronics research, and to interact among the world's experts with maximal interchange between the various topics. The main theme at ISEC 09 was developments in superconductive devices and electronics systems for advanced sensing, medical, communication and information technologies. Technical topics covered at ISEC 09 include: Digital/mixed signal processing RF electronics SQUIDs and their applications Mixers and detectors Thin film materials, junctions and novel devices. Among the 210 presentations, including plenary, oral and poster, only very high quality presentations have been selected for this special issue. Since the success of the conference depends on many invaluable contributions, I must express my appreciation to many individuals and organizations, in no particular order. I would like to thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 146 Committee for co-organization of the conference. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Akira Fujimaki and the rest of the program committee members for the stimulating conference program. Catherine Foley and Hideo Itozaki both played a prominent part in arranging the special issue as Guest Editors. I would also like to acknowledge the support of JSPS, The Fukuoka Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Murata Science Foundation, Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation, and Kyushu University. Finally, I would like to thank each and every participant at ISEC 09 for making a worthwhile contribution. Your work and your willingness to make this conference a success are indispensable.
The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 09) was held in June 2009 in Fukuoka, Japan. The conference was very successful, with 253 participants from 17 countries. This special issue is a compendium of selected papers based on the technology presented at that meeting. ISEC has established itself as the leading meeting specializing in superconductor-based electronics and has been organized every two years since 1987. This conference provides an opportunity to present the latest developments in superconductive electronics research, and to interact among the world's experts with maximal interchange between the various topics. The main theme at ISEC 09 was developments in superconductive devices and electronics systems for advanced sensing, medical, communication and information technologies. Technical topics covered at ISEC 09 include: Digital/mixed signal processing RF electronics SQUIDs and their applications Mixers and detectors Thin film materials, junctions and novel devices. Among the 210 presentations, including plenary, oral and poster, only very high quality presentations have been selected for this special issue. Since the success of the conference depends on many invaluable contributions, I must express my appreciation to many individuals and organizations, in no particular order. I would like to thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 146 Committee for co-organization of the conference. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Akira Fujimaki and the rest of the program committee members for the stimulating conference program. Catherine Foley and Hideo Itozaki both played a prominent part in arranging the special issue as Guest Editors. I would also like to acknowledge the support of JSPS, The Fukuoka Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Murata Science Foundation, Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation, and Kyushu University. Finally, I would like to thank each and every participant at ISEC 09 for making a worthwhile contribution. Your work and your willingness to make this conference a success are indispensable.
The 11th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 07) was held in June 2007 in Washington, DC, USA. This special issue is a compendium of selected papers based on the technology presented at that meeting. ISEC, held on a biennial basis, traditionally rotates from Japan to Europe to the United States. The single exception to this rotation has been the 2003 conference which was held in Australia. This conference brings together the world's experts in superconductive electronics in a forum which is conducive to interaction among the participants with maximal interchange between the various topics. The conference this year was truly an international event with participation from 13 countries over six continents. The quality of presentations was also high. The conference witnessed the continued maturation of both digital/mixed signal electronics and SQUID-based instrumentation along with a number of novel devices. Of particular note was the transition of superconducting quantum computing research from a novel abstract concept to a broad-based research activity. The organizing committee was able to gather an exemplary group of invited speakers to share their results and visions for future progress. These presentations spanned both the subtopics of superconductor electronics and the history of the field. As I reflect on the efforts which went into making this conference a success, I must express my appreciation to many individuals and organizations, in no particular order. I would like to thank Northrop Grumman for their support for my activities as chair of the conference, both in terms of making my time available and for direct financial considerations. Centennial Conferences, as the conference organizer, provided invaluable guidance and administrative support. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity, in particular in the persons of Moises Levy and John Spargo. I would be remiss if I did not thank John Przybysz, both for his influence in my assuming the chairmanship of the conference and for his continued advice throughout the planning process. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Fred Wellstood and the rest of the program committee. The amount of work and dedication that went towards the coherent and stimulating program that they provided is nothing short of amazing to me. And finally, I would like to thank each and every participant at ISEC 07. Without your work and your willingness to share the fruits of your labors with the rest of us, this conference could never have happened. Donald L Miller, Chairman ISEC 07
These reflections are based on the wrap-up talk given at the ISEC 2003 meeting. They are both subjective and selective, but without any intended value judgement. Superconducting qubits and π-shift devices are highlighted as examples of new directions. Some of the presented studies on materials and their characterization, Josephson junctions, analogue devices and systems, digital electronics and cryopackaging are briefly commented on. Overall, the progress in superconducting electronics has been good, but incremental and limited by insufficient funding. The challenge of other developing technologies, some much better funded, is emphasized.
It is our great pleasure to have a Special Section entitled "Superconducting Electronics for Quantum Information Technologies" in IEICE Transactions on Electronics. The quantum information technology is strongly expected to develop in the fields of quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum measurement. The superconducting electronics plays a number of important roles in these fields. In this Special Section, four invited papers, which describe superconducting quantum computers, digital electronics for controlling the quantum computers, and the quantum information processing by superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors and superconducting transition edge sensors, explained current states and future prospects in their fields. We hope the Special Section enhances the progress of related research fields and opens a new academic research area. Finally, I would like to appreciate this opportunity to the secretary and the guest associate editors for their dedicated activities to complete the Special Section.
It has been nearly 110 years since the discovery of superconductors, and more than 30 years since the discovery of high temperature superconductors (HTS). Great progress has been made in the application of superconducting electronics in the last two decades. HTS microwave devices have shown much higher perfomance than the traditional ones and have found their ways to the industry applications in mobile communication, radar, and special communication applications. Owing to the ultrahigh sensitivity to magnetic fields and currents, superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) have been used as the irresplacible sensors in geological surveying, magnetic resonanc imaging, biomagnetic imaging, and other areas. The sensitivity of superconducting radiation detectors such as superconducting SIS mixer, superconducting hot electron bolometer, superconducting transition edge sensor, superconducting nanowire single photon detector, and superconducting microwave kinetic inductance detector are near the quantum limitation. They are now key technology in geophysics, astrophysics, quantum information science, biomedicine, and so on. Superconducting Josephson parametric amplifier has become a key element for superconducting quantum computing. Superconducting integrated circuit has been included in the international roadmap for devices and systems, and shows that having the potential to become one of the mainstreams for post-Moore information processing technology. In metrology, superconducting Josephson effect and Josephson junction array devices have been widely used in the redefinition of quantum voltage reference and basic units of the International system of Units. Superconducting electronics plays an important role in the current quantum information technology boom, which in turn promotes the development of superconducting electronics. This review will brief introduce the research and application of superconducting electronics in China in recent years.
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.
Special Section on Progress & Trend of Superconductor-based ComputersIt is our great pleasure to have a Special Section entitled "Progress & Trend of Superconductor-based Computers" in IEICE Transactions on Electronics.Superconducting devices based on Josephson junctions exhibit low power consumption and fast switching.Superconducting transmission lines are free of dispersion up to several hundred GHz.Unique logic circuits such as fast single flux quantum (SFQ) circuits and ultralow power adiabatic quantum-flux parametron (AQFP) logic circuits were proposed and have been improved.These circuits have been well developed based on not only their theoretical advantage but also reliable design and fabrication technology of superconducting integrated circuits.Recently, strong interest on quantum computing motivates the development of superconducting quantum-bits, control and readout circuits, and their integration.In this Special Section, seven invited papers and a contributed one describe these topics: two papers for SFQ, four for AQFP, and two for key devices for quantum circuits.Finally, I would like to appreciate activities of all authors, reviewers, and members in editorial committee for completing this special section.