An overview of semiconductor-based and superconductor-based low-temperature electronics is presented. The general issues of reliability and thermal expansion mismatch are discussed. The discussion of semiconductor electronics starts with a description of a cryogenic supercomputer, the ETA, and then covers devices and materials, noise and applications to signal processing for sensors. Superconductor electronics is then discussed, including signal processing, digital systems, and oscillating junctions. The success of electronics with small numbers of Josephson junctions and the outlook for higher-temperature operation are addressed. Hybrid applications, combining semiconductor and superconductor technologies at the device, circuit, or system level, are examined, highlighting the problems of electrical interfacing and interconnections. >
An overview of semiconductor-based and superconductor-based low-temperature electronics is presented. The general issues of reliability and thermal expansion mismatch are discussed. The discussion of semiconductor electronics starts with a description of a cryogenic supercomputer, the ETA, and then covers devices and materials, noise and applications to signal processing for sensors. Superconductor electronics is then discussed, including signal processing, digital systems, and oscillating junctions. The success of electronics with small numbers of Josephson junctions and the outlook for higher-temperature operation are addressed. Hybrid applications, combining semiconductor and superconductor technologies at the device, circuit, or system level, are examined, highlighting the problems of electrical interfacing and interconnections. >
An overview of semiconductor-based and superconductor-based low-temperature electronics is presented. The general issues of reliability and thermal expansion mismatch are discussed. The discussion of semiconductor electronics starts with a description of a cryogenic supercomputer, the ETA, and then covers devices and materials, noise and applications to signal processing for sensors. Superconductor electronics is then discussed, including signal processing, digital systems, and oscillating junctions. The success of electronics with small numbers of Josephson junctions and the outlook for higher-temperature operation are addressed. Hybrid applications, combining semiconductor and superconductor technologies at the device, circuit, or system level, are examined, highlighting the problems of electrical interfacing and interconnections.>
Interface circuits are the key components that enable the hybrid integration of superconductor and semiconductor digital electronics. The design requirements of superconductor-semiconductor interface circuits vary depending on the application, such as high-performance classical computing, superconducting quantum computing, and digital signal processing. In this survey, various interface circuits are categorized based on the working principle and structure. The superconducting output drivers are explored, which are capable of converting and amplifying, e.g., single flux quantum (SFQ) voltage pulses, to voltage levels that semiconductor circuits can process. Several trade-offs between circuit- and system-level design parameters are examined. Accordingly, parameters such as the data rate, output voltage, power dissipation, layout area, thermal/heat load of cryogenic cables, and bit-error rate are considered.
Abstract Superconductor electronics combines passive and active superconducting components and sometimes normal resistors into functional circuits and systems that also include room-temperature electronics for amplification, power sources, necessary controls, etc., usually computer operated. Furthermore, complete systems include magnetic and electromagnetic shielding, cryogenic enclosures, and increasingly a cryocooler in self-contained units. Components or devices of low or high critical temperature superconductors include inductances (coils), passive transmission lines, resonators, antennae, filters, as well as active elements: Josephson junctions, Josephson oscillators, and superconducting quantum interference devices. Of multiple demonstrated applications, mostly but not only in science and metrology, currently most successful are voltage standards, astronomy detectors and large telescope cameras, instruments for material characterization, and magnetometers for geomagnetic prospecting. Major current efforts concentrate on energy-efficient high-end computing and quantum computing. The outcomes of these efforts are likely to be known in the course of the following decade.
Technological processes for the fabrication of low- and high-Tc Josephson junctions, aimed for certain applications, are described. On the one hand, the integration of low-Tc superconductor digital electronics with superconducting sensor arrays enables input signal processing with quantum limited resolution at millikelvin temperatures. We describe this mixed signal superconductor technology for analogue sensor readout and signal multiplexing for operating temperatures down to 300 mK. On the other hand, by making use of modern high-Tc Josephson junction technology, sensitive magnetometers, which require a modest cooling power, can be developed. Examples of the application of the mentioned processes are shown.
In this paper, the author describes studies on electronic devices and circuits utilizing both of superconductors and semniconductors. First, a design of an interface circuit composed of Josephson junctions and MOSFETs is described. The Josephson-MOS interface circuit will be used for realizing high-speed data communication between a Josephson digital circuit and a semiconductor one. Second, fabrication and characterization of MOSFETs with superconductive NbN gate electrodes are described. The use of superconductive gates makes it easy to hybridize MOSFETs with Josephson junctions. Finally, studies of Josephson-CMOS hybrid memory circuits are introduced.
Superconductive electronics offers a unique combination of high bandwidth and low power for mission critical hardware such as digital processors at 20 to 100 GHz, microwatt per bit analog to digital converters, large digital switches at multi-Gb/s data rates, and low noise parametric amplifiers. This cryogenic technology, typically operating at a few degrees or a few tens of degrees Kelvin, depends upon the unique physics of superconducting materials such as Nb, NbN, and YBaCuO, and the fundamental circuit element, the Josephson junction (JJ) to create unique architectures of unprecedented design efficiency and performance. These circuits are based on the single flux quantum (SFQ) logic family, a technology that has no parallel in semiconductor electronics. Digital data is transmitted by voltage pulses with amplitude less than 1 mV, but at extremely high speeds. Individual gates have been operated as high as 370 GHz. In this paper, we present a brief overview of superconductive digital technology, describe some recent circuits, and discuss how the challenges to superconductive technology are being met, including the use of multi-chip module (MCM) technology, and the potential use of III-V HBT and HEMT circuits to provide interface drivers and amplifiers, possibly operated cryogenically.