Advancement in the field of superconductor circuits requires better designing tools and computer-aided programs. The JOINUS program is developed as part of the ColdFlux/SuperTools project. It features a user-friendly environment with several useful tools to design superconductor circuits based on Josephson junctions. The program can work with different Josephson simulator engines and embeds several new functionalities.We pursue two main goals to develop the software with a multi-platform capability. The first goal is to provide a graphical user interface environment that is easy to use and can be handled quickly with a simple user guide and some helpful examples. That also includes the automation of some tasks to perform in the course of a design sequence. The objective is to make newcomers to the field of superconducting electronics more interested and inclined to start using and designing simple digital circuits in a short time and a simple way. The second goal is to improve already established models that are sometimes inaccurate or even inappropriate. The software is not just a user-friendly interface, it also provides improved models and many new functionalities.
Advancement in the field of superconductor circuits requires better designing tools and computer-aided programs. The JOINUS program is developed as part of the ColdFlux/SuperTools project. It features a user-friendly environment with several useful tools to design superconductor circuits based on Josephson junctions. The program can work with different Josephson simulator engines and embeds several new functionalities.We pursue two main goals to develop the software with a multi-platform capability. The first goal is to provide a graphical user interface environment that is easy to use and can be handled quickly with a simple user guide and some helpful examples. That also includes the automation of some tasks to perform in the course of a design sequence. The objective is to make newcomers to the field of superconducting electronics more interested and inclined to start using and designing simple digital circuits in a short time and a simple way. The second goal is to improve already established models that are sometimes inaccurate or even inappropriate. The software is not just a user-friendly interface, it also provides improved models and many new functionalities.
Single-flux-quantum-based circuits are the subjects of renewed attention due to their high speed and very high energy efficiency. However, the need of cryogenic temperature, the complex physics of Josephson junctions, and the lack of proper electronic design automation (EDA) tools causes slow progress in the field of superconducting electronics. In this article, we introduce a new open-source program named JOsephson INterface Utility Software (JOINUS) that incorporates simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE)-based simulator engines, improved physical models, and several powerful built-in routines. JOINUS is based on a user-friendly environment available on Linux, MacOS, and Windows platforms to simplify the design and analysis of superconducting digital circuits.
Abstract Superconducting integrated circuits have long been completely handcrafted or at best designed with a loose collection of tools that require manual manipulation of data and design transfer between tools. Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software development requires significant investment of resources to track the evolution of integrated circuit fabrication processes, which has only been possible commercially for highly successful semiconductor integrated circuit processes. The IARPA SuperTools project which started in 2017 is the largest known investment to date made in superconducting EDA tool development. SuperTools is divided into two main categories: high-level tools for the synthesis of digital logic circuits, clock networks and placed-and-routed layouts for systems such as processors with millions of logic gates; and physical-level tools for the design, simulation, optimisation, verification, layout and parameter extraction of devices and digital logic cells with the inclusion of fabrication process simulation. In this paper the modules developed for the ColdFlux project under SuperTools are discussed from device modelling to chip tape-out. Progress on parameter extraction tools is highlighted.
In five and a half years, the ColdFlux project under the IARPA SuperTools program pushed the boundaries of digital and analog superconductor electronic design automation (S-EDA) tools. The SuperTools program demanded significant beyond-state-of-the-art deliverables in four main areas: RTL synthesis, architectures, and verification; analog design and layout synthesis; physical design and test; and technology CAD and cell library design. Through the work of academic groups scattered over four continents, the ColdFlux effort forged into a powerful set of open-source and commercial S-EDA tools unlike any before, rivaled only by a commercial toolchain from Synopsys under the same SuperTools umbrella. We present an overview of the tools from where we started to the eventual project deliverables. These include powerful simulation and extraction engines, magnetic field and flux trapping analysis, advanced clocking methods, multi-chip interface extraction and verification, unified multi-layer design-rule compliant track blocks for automated place and route of both rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ) and adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) cells, models and tools for validation and test, multi-bit single flux quantum (SFQ) cells, architecture innovations for full CPU designs and more. Comprehensive cell libraries and a process design kit (PDK) were developed with the ColdFlux tools. The AQFP cell library features a logically rich collection of 80+ cells, including 3- and 5-input logic gates, signal-driving boosters, and refined RSFQ-to-AQFP interfaces, while the RSFQ library has 30+ cells. Finally, we discuss how the full toolchain enables and enhances the superconductor IC design process.
In this paper we introduce our new quantum circuit design tool. Based on quantum mechanical models a universal discrete-time quantum-network designer and simulator was implemented. The graphical user interface allows the user to design complex quantum networks efficiently. The component-based architecture enables independent researchers to use our simulator API (written in C), while we continue to expand and refine the C# based user interface. Future plans include components for distributed simulation and automated circuit design.
A circuit design interface for simulation of quantum circuits is presented. This simple but powerful tool aims to enable and improve experimentation in the field of quantum computing, either for professional or amateur usage. It provides an intuitive, automated, easy-to-use environment for building algorithms using the circuit model of quantum computation, while freeing the experimenter from technical procedures, such as coding or program installations. It provides a wide range of tools to the user, from a universal gate-set, to custom gate definitions, post-selected measurements, complex compositions of sub-circuits in a recursive way, good modularity and nice output results. Moreover, it is combined with popular backend simulators due to its circuit-parsing capabilities.
The promises of the ultrahigh-performance properties of superconductivity and Josephson junction technologies have been known for quite some time. This presentation describes the first superconducting electronics and measurement system and its important role as a major tool to advance microwave and millimeter wave technologies. This breakthrough tool is a sampling oscilloscope with 5-ps rise time, 50-μV sensitivity, and a time domain reflectometer with 8-ps rise time. In order to achieve these performance goals, several technological hurdles had to be overcome including perfecting a manufacturing process for building Josephson junction IC chips, developing an innovative cooling technique, developing interfaces and interconnections with bandwidths in excess of 70 GHz, and developing the room-temperature hardware and software necessary to make the instruments convenient, easy to use, easy to learn, in addition to making available functions and features users have come to expect from sophisticated digital test instrumentation. These technological developments are stepping stones leading to the realization of more sophisticated and complex electronic systems satisfying the needs of scientists, technologists, and engineers. The unprecedented speed and sensitivity make it possible to attack new frontiers.