RAPID SINGAL FLUX QUANTUM LOGIC

Superconductor single flux quantum technology has such an alternative physical mechanism for device operation. It is based on manipulation of magnetic single flux quanta (SFQ) -19 Joule or 5x103 kBT ln(2) at T = 4 K. Superconducting microstrip lines with low loss and dispersion allows the ballistic transfer of the SFQ picosecond signals with speeds close to speed of light.

The ultra-low power feature of RSFQ was generally not important until very recently. As a result, practical RSFQ circuits were biased using dc current sources consisting of external voltage sources and on-chip bias resistors. Thus, the RSFQ circuit total power was dominated by Joule heating in bias resistors rather than the actual logic gate SFQ switching. Nevertheless, the resultant ~10-6-10-7 W/gate power dissipation is still well below CMOS power levels and quite acceptable for todays practical applications such as digital receivers Future VLSI technologies will require achieving lower power and higher energy efficiencies than in standard RSFQ circuits in order to be relevant to the challenges of Exascale supercomputers and to overcome the limitations for charge transfer based technologies such as CMOS.

Josephson junction
3. Brief theory of superconductor electronics from an engineering point of view Although the Josephson junction is a macroscopic quantum device, we can consider it (the same as for the transistor) as circuit element governed by simplified equations. The Josephson junction is a two-terminal device, and the circuit symbol is shown in Fig. 3. Figure 3: Josephson junction circuit symbol. You will be shown the Josephson junctions I-V characteristics in class. For a basic start, consider the junction as a nonlinear device with one parameter: Critical current ICD 813 Lecture 1 p.5 (IC). Starting from zero current, with the junction in the superconductive state, if a current is applied through the junction it will flow without any voltage developing across the junction. When current through the junction exceeds IC, the junction switches to the normal state, and acts (mostly) as a resistor. The current through the junction now produces an average voltage that is not zero. So how do we use this 2-terminal device to make digital circuits? There are several ways, but the most popular and successful is RSFQ (Rapid Single Flux Quantum).

RSFQ logic relies on the representation of data through the absence or presence of single flux quanta (a flux quantum 0 = h/2e) generated by Josephson junctions and inductances. In Fig. 4, single flux quanta (SFQ) are represented by crosses in circles (showing flux penetration into the plane of the figure). RSFQ circuits are composed of ICD 813 Lecture 1 p.6 three elements: inductance L of interconnects, critical current of Josephson junctions, and bias current Ib. These elements allow us to form three basic building blocks:

1. Transfer. These blocks allow bidirectional transfer of SFQ pulses. Pulse / data propagation can either be viewed as a switching current and accompanying voltage propagating from one junction to the next, or as a flux quantum threading one transfer loop and then the next as Josephson junctions switch. Transfer blocks have small inductances. 2. Storage. With larger loop inductances, the circulating current in a loop that encloses the inductance is too small to switch the second junction. Thus, the circulating current remains in the loop and information is stored. This is used to build bistable cells. 3. The decision element. A decision element uses two Josephson junctions to form a twojunction comparator. Typically, with sufficient input current, one of the two junctions in a decision element will switch, with the bias current through the two junctions determining which junction switches.