A binary counter using bistable dc SQUID's as flip flop circuits is reviewed. Its potential for frequency division in the THz range and for ultra high accuracy A/D conversion are discussed.
A Josephson binary counter using single-flux quanta transitions of DC SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) has been fabricated using an eight-level NbN-based process. High-speed binary division has been demonstrated at 4.2 K, with single-cell counting observed at 60 GHz using the Josephson voltage-to-frequency relationship. Count rate was primarily limited by conservative process and design rules. The counter was designed for operation at 4.2 K. At 8-10 K, the beta /sub L/ of the SQUIDs would not allow operation, though the junction characteristics were good.>
High speed, single flux quantum (SFQ) binary scalers are important components in superconducting analog-to-digital converters (ADC). This paper reviews the concept for a SQUID ADC and the design of an SFQ binary ripple counter, and reports the simulation of key components, and fabrication and performance of non-latching SQUID scalers and SFQ binary ripple counters. The SQUIDs were fabricated with Nb/Nb2O5/PbIn junctions and interconnected by monolithic-superconducting transmission lines and isolation resistors. Each SQUID functioned as a bistable flip-flop with the input connected to the center of the device and the output across one junction. All junctions were critically damped to optimize the pulse response. Operation was verified by observing the do I-V curves of successive SQUIDs driven by a cw pulse train generated on the same chip. Each SQUID exhibited constant-voltage current steps at 1/2 the voltage of the preceding device as expected from the Josephson voltage-to-frequency relation. Steps were observed only for the same voltage polarity of successive devices and for proper phase bias of the SQUID. Binary frequency division was recorded up to 40GHz for devices designed to operate to 28GHz.
A superconductive analog-to-digital converter which uses a DC SQUID as a quantizer and a flip-flop counter as a digitizer has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The circuit was fabricated using a ten-level niobium process. Tests at 4.2 K demonstrated counting to the full 12-b accuracy of the design, monotonic A/D conversion with linearity to less than 1 LSB over the more than 9-b range of conversion, read-on-the-fly operation with counter overflow, and counter operation with a gate current bus.
SQUIDs are an attractive candidate for the amplification of low-level rf and microwave signals. Compared to semiconductor amplifiers, they offer lower noise and much lower power dissipation. Especially at frequencies below 1 GHz, the improvement in noise temperature compared to the best cold semiconductor amplifiers can be as high as 50; noise temperatures only slightly above the quantum limit have been achieved in this frequency range. This article will review the current status of radio-frequency amplifiers based on dc SQUIDs and provide detailed discussions of amplifier noise temperature, input and output impedance, and nonlinearities.
We describe a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) multiplexer operated at microwave frequencies. The outputs of multiple SQUIDs are simultaneously modulated at different frequencies and summed into the input of one high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The large bandwidth and dynamic range provided by HEMT amplifiers should make it possible to frequency-division multiplex a large number of SQUIDs in one output coaxial cable. We measure low SQUID noise (∼0.5μΦ0∕Hz at 4K) and demonstrate the multiplexed readout of two direct current (dc) SQUIDs at different resonant frequencies. In this work, dc SQUIDs are used, but this approach is equally applicable to radio-frequency SQUIDs.