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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

An unshunted comparator as a device for quantum measurements

M. Wulf, Xingxiang Zhou, Jonathan L. Habif, Pavel Rott, Mark F. Bocko, M. J. Feldman

Published Jun 1, 2003• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The unshunted single-flux-quantum SFQ comparator is described for the first time. Its dynamic behavior is surprisingly similar to the familiar resistively-shunted SFQ comparator. For certain parameter ranges both junctions of the comparator may pulse at the same time to create a reflected anti-pulse. This phenomenon is utilized in a new SFQ comparator design with better coherence properties for qubit readout. Considerations of quantum noise for the unshunted SFQ comparator are discussed.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2003.814117

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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Jun 1, 1995•73 citations
The unshunted single-flux-quantum SFQ comparator is described for the first time. Its dynamic behavior is surprisingly similar to the familiar resistively-shunted SFQ comparator. For certain parameter ranges both junctions of the comparator may pulse at the same time to create a reflected anti-pulse. This phenomenon is utilized in a new SFQ comparator design with better coherence properties for qubit readout. Considerations of quantum noise for the unshunted SFQ comparator are discussed.
State measurements of flux-based superconducting quantum bits (qubits) require the sensitive discrimination of small differences of magnetic flux, with measurement times short compared to the timescales of coherent quantum mechanical behaviour. The single-flux-quantum (SFQ) superconducting comparator may be the best device for this purpose. An SFQ comparator design using a quasi-one-junction SQUID (QOS) acting as the comparator junction has two advantages over earlier designs—increased sensitivity and the possibility to eliminate shunt resistors. Here we report the first measurements of the sensitivity of an unshunted QOS comparator. The gray zone of this device at 4.2K is 6 mΦo.
A single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulse coincidence detector based on resistively shunted nonhysteretic Josephson junctions was designed and simulated. The coincidence detector generates an SFQ pulse when the delay between the arrival of SFQ pulses at its two inputs is less than the coincidence threshold. Simulations indicate that the minimum coincidence threshold time can be as short as 400+or-200 fs, assuming Josephson junction characteristic voltages of 1 mV, overdamped dynamics, and 4.2 K operating temperatures. Circuit architectures exploiting this gate are suggested. Estimates of the effects of thermal noise on resolution are presented, indicating the potential for various time-domain measurements with subpicosecond resolution.< >
A new generation of the Josephson digital circuits-rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ) devices-based on overdamped externally shunted high quality Nb-AlO x -Nb tunnel junctions have been designed, fabricated and experimentally investigated. All-refractory material 11-layer 5 mu m integrated technology has been successfully employed for the preparation of the RSFQ microcircuits. The T flip-flop has been demonstrated to operate properly up to clock frequencies of 100 GHz at 25% margins. The proper operation of the buffer stage for a one-directional SFQ pulse transmission at clock frequencies up to 125 GHz has been achieved. The possibilities to convert the information from the usual DC form to SFQ and vice versa have been demonstrated. An output signal in an SFQ/DC converter as high as 220 mu V has been measured. A new counter type A/D converter which includes a comparator and reversible binary counter with DC outputs has been fabricated and tested. The proposed ADC seems to be very promising for high-accuracy measurement of medium-bandwidth signals. The possibilities of creating a number of SFQ devices with outstanding parameters are discussed.
Abstract Single-flux-quantum (SFQ) circuits conventionally avoid simultaneous or competing switching events in Josephson junction (JJ) comparator because they can induce pulse errors and nondeterministic behavior. In this work, we demonstrate that such double switching can instead be intentionally exploited as a useful computational mechanism. By introducing unshunted JJs before the comparator structure, stable double switching of two junctions is realized, enabling two input SFQ pulses to be merged into a single output pulse. The proposed mechanism operates correctly regardless of the switching order of the two junctions. To demonstrate the feasibility of the double switching mechanism, a double-switching confluence buffer was designed as a compact scaled unary adder. The proposed adder requires only 12 JJs, achieving approximately 84% area reduction compared with a conventional SFQ scaled unary adder. Simulations achieved bias margins of −18.6% to +20.2%, while measured bias margins of +17.9% to +28.5% and correct operation up to approximately 55 GHz were experimentally demonstrated. The results indicate that double switching, traditionally regarded as undesirable in SFQ circuit design, can instead be harnessed as a useful primitive for compact SFQ logic circuits.
We study a single-shot single-flux-quantum (SFQ) readout circuit based on current-to-time conversion for superconducting flux qubits. Circulating currents representing states of a qubit were converted to propagation delay time of SFQ pulses, and then detected by a time discriminator. The key parameter which determines the availability of single-shot readout is current resolution. We evaluated the current resolution by measuring the gray zone which was defined as the transition width in the output probability of the current-to-time converter with 1000 trials for each value of an input current. For reducing unwanted effects on the qubit, shunt resistors are required to be removed for Josephson junctions in the readout circuit. We designed two readout circuits for comparison, the circuit composed of shunted junctions and that of unshunted junctions. Gray zones were measured to be 4.8μA\mu{\rm A}μAfor unshunted junctions and 2.2μA\mu{\rm A}μAfor the shunted ones at 4.2 K. These gray zones may originate from Johnson noise. Operation at a reduced temperature and employment of a likelihood decision circuit will lead to reduced gray zone, i.e., improved current resolution sufficient for single-shot readout.
We have designed and tested a Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum (RSFQ) circuit for experimental measurement of the fluctuation-induced threshold uncertainty of switching of SFQ comparators, which are essential components of RSFQ logic devices, analog-to-digital converters, and digital SQUIDs. Statistical density of the switching events in comparators using externally-overdamped Nb-trilayer Josephson junctions has been found to be in agreement with the distribution which follows from a simple theory based on a time-dependent harmonic-oscillator model of the device. Width of the distribution (i.e, the single-shot current resolution of the comparator) measured as a function of temperature in the range 1.7-4.2 K corresponds to fundamental (thermal/quantum) fluctuations, with no evidence of excess noise sources.>