;xr

%% ery low tempera-

tures provide an excellent operating environ-
ment for electronics. Room-temperature
operation of conventional electronics is a
matter of convenience, not optimization.
Lowering the temperature improves perfor-
mance, and greatly reduces the disruptive
effects of thermal energy, which trouble us
as wasted power, noise, and wear-out. The
cooling of electronics, although incon-
venient, is therefore being considered more
frequently as another means of boosting
performance, and the recent discovery of
superconductivity at temperatures to over
100 K provides additional impetus.
Low-temperature electronics (also called
cold electronics, cryogenic electronics, or
cryoelectronics) involves the operation of
electronic materials, devices, circuits and
systems at temperatures significantly below
the conventional range, which typically ends
at -55 C. Electronic devices and'systems
have been operated at temperatures all the
way down to within a degree of absolute zero
(0 K = -273 C). Because of the variety of
materials, devices and effects, no single
temperature can be given as the boundary
between the conventional range and the low-
temperature range, however, this article em-
phasizes the cryogenic range, about 100 K
(-173 C) and colder.
The motivation for low-temperature
electronics is improved performance com-
pared to conventional electronics. This takes
several forms: increased speed for digital
systems, better signal-to-noise ratio and
greater bandwidth for analog systems, im-
proved sensitivity for sensors, and greater
precision and range for measuring instru-
ments. The improvement may range from a
factor of two to as much as several orders of
magnitude. In a few applications, the perfor-
m a n c e afforded by low-temperature
electronics is only a few times the ultimate
limit imposed by nature. The low-temper-
ature environment also retards aging proces-
ses by orders of magnitude.
Low-temperature electronics can be
divided into two branches: semiconductor-
based and superconductor-based. Semicon-
ductor-based electronics can be made to op-
erate at any temperature from room tempera-
ture (or even much higher) down to the
 lowest cryogenic temperatures ( I K or
below). As their temperature is reduced, the
changes in characteristics of semiconductor
devices may be gradual or abrupt, and can
vary considerably depending on the par-
ticular device.
On the other hand, present systems based
on superconductivity operate only at low
cryogenic temperatures (below about 10 K),
which has been a serious impediment to their
widespread use. Proponents ofsuperconduc-
tor electronics have nevertheless brought
such systems to the commercial market. The
requirement for very low temperatures is
expected to diminish as a result of the recent
discovery of materials which are supercon-
ducting at much higher temperatures. in
some instances above 100 K.
There is considerable overlap in the func-
tions that can be performed by the two
branches: however. each has unique func-
tional or performance advantages. Thuq
there are reasons to combine them to form a
variety of semiconductor/superconductor
“hybrids” to incorporate the best features of
each. Like purely superconducting systems,
they have also become more attractive as a
result of high-temperature superconductors.
A favorable meeting ground for the two
branches would be temperatures near that of
liquid nitrogen in the SO K to 100 K range.
More intermingling of semiconductor and
superconductor materials and devices is
likely as the new superconductors are made
practical and as cooled semiconductor
electronics is more widely used.
Low-temperature electronics encompas-
je5 a broad range of systems and applica-
tions (Table 1 ). The complete range of com-
plexity from single-transistor circuits to su-
percomputers incorporating many very-
large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits is rep-
resented in both semiconductor and super-
conductor electronics. Both analog and digi-
tal systems have been developed and various
commercial 5ystenis have appeared (Figs. 1
and 41.
General Issues
Before looking at specific examples from
low-temperature electronics. there are
several general issues worth considering.
The first is providing a cryogenic environ-
ment. which involves maintaining a
temperature and removing heat (see “Cool-
ing of Electronics”). Another requirement
for any system where part of the electronics
is at low temperature is interfacing to the
electronics that remains at room tempera-
ture. Specifically. techniques must be used
that can efficiently transfer electric power
and high-speed or high-frequency signals to
the low-temperature environment, but do not
transfer excessive heat. This is more serious
for very low temperature (-10 K ) sy5tems,
since the temperature difference is larger and
removing heat to maintain it is considerably
more costly.
1. Reliability
Degradation and aging processes such as
corrosion. electromigration. and interdif-
fusion are thermally activated and depend
exponentially on temperature. Consequent-
ly. i t is expected that in cold electronic sys-
tems these processes will be retarded by
many orders of magnitude. so low-tempera-
ture operation has important benefits for
reliability in electronic systems. This could
be particularly important for the “post-
shrink” era where the minute dimensions of
devices push reliability to the limit. For ex-
ample. low-temperature operation could al-
leviate electromigration, therefore allowing
the use of pure metals instead of alloys for
metallization on IC chips and consequently
reducing the resistance of interconnections.
2. Thermal Expansion Mismatch
The need to cool down and warm up systems
for testing. adjustment. and maintenance. on
the other hand, will be detrimental to
reliability. Stress and strain will result from
differences in thermal expan5ion among the
various materials such as metallization
layers. chips. substrates. and packages. This
is a concern even for room-temperature
electronics. but is more so for low-tempera-
turc electronics because of the greater
temperature difference. Here. semiconduc-
tor systems have an advantage compared to
superconductor systems because they can be
tested at room temperature (although perfor-
mance is altered) and fewer temperature
cycles should be needed.
 Cooling the Electronics
When cooling electronic circuits, the
key parameters are operational
temperature and quantity of heat to
be removed. Within the cryogenic
range, temperatures that have been
commonly used for cold electronic
systems may be determined by prac-
tical considerations of cryogenic li-
quids and refrigerators,by the
temperature requirements of other
devices to which the electronics
must be coupled, or in the case of
superconductors, by their critical
temperature. Many systems employ
liquidnitrogen (LN2) at 77 K or liquid
helium (LHe) at 1-4 K, the most
popular cryogens since others are
either too expensive or too hazard-
ous. Another common means of
cooling is by mechanical
refrigerators(cryocoolers)which
function down to about 15 K.
Semiconductorelectronic systems
at all temperatures, but
based on a superconduc-
below the material’s criti-
re (Tc). However, an
peraturejust below Tc
not low enough. Even
though the material exhibits super-
conductivity, its properties are not
developed. A
uctor’s capabilities (maxi-
rcurrent for example) are
weak just below Tc,gradually becom-
ing stronger as temperature is
lowered and reaching their maxi-
mum at 0 K. As a consequence, an
operating temperature of about 2/3
Tc or lower is desirable. Thus super-
conductor circuits based on Nb (Tc =
9 K) work well at LHe temperatures,
and the YBCO class of superconduc-
tors having Tc = 90 K are best
cooled to 60 K or so. For a system
to operate at LN2 temperature, a Tc
= 120 K is indicated, a conditionjust
met by some of the most recent
materials.
Heat removal requirements at the
operating temperature can range
from milliwatts for a single device to
hundreds of watts for a computer
substystem (hundreds of watts ap-
plies to sgmiconductor systems;
even a large superconductor system
is likely to be much less). This in-
cludes electrical power dissipated in
the electronic devices, heat leaking
in from the room by conduction
along electrical and mechanical inter-
faces, and by radiated heat. The
14
“parasitic’ heat may account for a
substantial portion of the heat load;
for an individual device dissipating
only microwatts, it may account for
essentially the entire heat load on
the cooling system.
As the operating temperature is
lowered, it becomes more difficult to
remove the heat. Refrigerationbe-
comes less efficient; thermodynami-
cally, the best possible performance
for any refrigerator (heat
removedlpower in) is about 35% at
77 K, but only 1.4% at 4 K (practical
refrigeratorstypically achieve an
order of magnitude less than this).
Liquid cryogens do have the ad-
vantage that heat-generatingIC
chips or other devices can be direct-
ly immersed to improve heat trans-
fer. This is feasible because of the in-
ertness of LN;! and LHe and the
chemical inactivity of materials at
cryogenic temperatures.
For complex electronic systems,
such as high-performance com-
puters, heat removal is a serious
problem even at room temperature.
Both faster switching and dense chip
packing mean that heat is highly con-
centrated. Supercomputers using
room-temperatureelectronics have
elaborate cooling schemes and
hardware to remove this heat. Thus,
introducing cold electronics is not a
matter of adding a cooling system,
but of replacing a room-temperature
system with a cryogenic one.
Cryogenic operation allows better
heat removal and denser packing be-
cause (1) the thermal conductivity of
many materials used in electronics,
such as silicon, copper and alumina
ceramic, improves at low tempera-
tures (peaking at about 50 K); (2)vol-
tages, thus power dissipation, can
be decreased; (3)parasitic currents
in semiconductor devices are sup-
pressed with thermally assisted
leakage across p-n junctions and
capacitors that are reduced by or-
ders of magnitude, and memory ICs
retain data much longer. This in turn
can reduce power needed for
“refresh” since dynamic memorycan
function in a static or semi-static
mode. These factors should make
thermal control inm low-temperature
electronicsystems considerably
more straightforwardthan for con-
ventional room-temperature
electronics.
Additional temperature cycling results
from power being turned on and off in the
electronics. Although the effects depend on
design, in general power cycling for cold
electronics should be less severe than it is for
warm electronics because the thermal coef-
ficients of expansion decrease at lower
temperature. In addition, power dissipation
is usually less in low-temperature circuits,
especially those that are superconductor-
based.
In cold semiconductor electronics, stand-
ard commercial devices are frequently used
and a low failure rate from thermal cycling
is reported. At first this is somewhat surpris-
ing; however, packaging for semiconductor
electronics has a long history of dealing with
thermal expansion mismatch. Semiconduc-
tor devices are already designed to withstand
extremes of temperature from environmen-
tal variations and power cycling, as well as
cooling from assembly temperatures (which
may be as high as 500°C)to room tempera-
ture. Furthermore, the thermal contraction in
cooling from room temperature to liquid
nitrogen or liquid helium temperature is
comparable to that experienced over the
commonly specified conventional range
from -55°C to +125”C. Although the
problems of thermal expansion mismatch in
cold electronics are real and need attention,
they are not new to the designer of con-
ventional semiconductor components.
An example of difficulties associated
with thermal expansion differences ap-
peared in early superconductor electronics
for which new materials systems were
launched. Early Josephson junction ICs
were made with lead films and thermal ex-
pansion mismatch with their substrates
caused structural changes leading to junc-
tion failure. The problem was reduced by
using lead alloys and later eliminated by
changing to niobium, a harder material, after
a great deal of materials research. Present
Josephson ICs can easily maintain their
characteristics after hundreds of cycles. The
most convincing argument that such chal-
lenges to low-temperature electronics can be
met is that a variety of electronic systems of
all sizes and levels of complexity have been
successfully operated at low temperatures.
CIRCUITS AND DEVICES
 Semiconductor Electronics
Many semiconductor devices and circuits
can operate at temperatures down to the
cryogenic range either by design or by acci-
dent. In fact, most semiconductor-based
low-temperature electronic systems are like
the familiar ones for conventional tempera-
tures and use the same circuit designs and
devices. However, the devices are nearly
always field-effect transistors (MOSFET,
J E T , MESFET, MODFET) since standard
bipolars perform poorly. For some ap-
plications, there is custom device design.
Low-temperature investigations of Si
MOSFETs in the 1970s showed that their
switching speed increases upon cooling,
typically doubling at 77 K. This is because
both the mobility and saturation velocity of
the charge carriers increases as temperature
is lowered, due to reduced thermal disrup-
tion of their motion. Some improvement
may also result from decreased junction
capacitance. This speed increase is also ex-
hibited by larger systems, such as a digital
IC or a computer: a number of experiments
have demonstrated that digital circuits show
an approximate doubling in speed at liquid-
nitrogen temperature compared to room
temperature operation.
1. A Cryogenic Supercomputer
The increase in speed with decreasing
temperature was put to use in a commercial
supercomputer, the ETA” (Fig. I ) , by far
the most complex example of a low-
temperature electronic system. Immersing
the central processing units (up to 8 per
system) in liquid nitrogen decreased their
clock cycle to 7 ns from the room tempera-
ture value of 14 ns. Each CPU consists of a
44-layer circuit board, 420 mm x 570 mm,
on which are mounted about 240 Si VLSI
CMOS gate-array ICs. Each of these ICs
contains about 20,000 gates and dissipates
an average of 3-4 watts. The refrigeration
load at 77 K per CPU board is about 1 kW,
of which approximately 0.2 kW is from
parasitic heat leakage. The first ETA l o was
delivered in 1986, and six more were
delivered subsequently. Unfortunately, the
company responsible for this pioneering
development, ETA Systems, went out of
business in April 1989 due to financial dif-
ficulties.
MARCH 1990
Much of low-temperature electronics has
adapted conventional devices and circuits
designed for room temperature. Such is the
case for the ETA” supercomputer, which
also operates at room temperature (though
half as fast), and there is also a slower air-
cooled model based on the same technology.
It has been proposed that optimizing semi-
conductor device design for low-tempera-
ture operation would enable a much greater
speed increase, by perhaps as much as five
times compared to room temperature. Al-
though intriguing, this has not yet been
demonstrated in a working circuit or system.
2. Devices and Materials
Most low-temperature semiconductor
electronics is based on silicon. The silicon
field-effect transistor (FET) in its various
forms (JFET, MOSFET, CMOS) behaves
well at cryogenic temperatures. Down to
about 40 K there is a continuation of trends
in characteristics already familiar from co-
nventional temperatures, therefore standard
device models can be extended to predict
low-temperature behavior and are usable for
designing. Devices exhibit an increase in
switching speed, an improvement in gain,
and a decrease in parasitic currents. Also, the
turn-off/turn-on becomes sharper, allowing
a reduced logic voltage swing which some
circuit designers consider even more impor-
tant than the increased speed. In sum, most Fig. I The ETAio-E supercomputer. Photographs
device characteristics improve, important courtesy of ETA Systems, Inc. (St. Paul, Min-
exceptions being increased degradation nesota). See: T. Vacca et al.: “A Cryogenically
from hot-electron effects and carrier trap- Cooled CMOS VLSI Supercomputer” VLSI Sys-
ping and a shifting of operating thresholds. tems Design, v.8, n.7, p p . 80-88,June 1987.
CMOS has an advantage in its symmetry, ( a )ETA’’-E installed at Florida State Universir);.
which partly compensates for changes in the The two enclosures in the foreground contain the
central-processor units operating at 77 K . Each
individual MOSFETs.
enclosure can hold two CPUs and their 50-liter
At temperatures below about 40 K, LN2 cryostats. The taller enclosure in the back
silicon devices usually exhibit radical chan- contains shared memory (room temperature). The
ges in characteristics due to the phenomenon nitrogen circulating system and reliquefier are
of carrier “freeze-out” where there is insuf- not visible.
ficient thermal energy to generate carriers. (hi A central processor unit; the lower half is a
Most Si MOS devices will still operate, but printed-circuit hoard with ahout240Si CMOSlCs
which is immersed in LN2; the upper half is f o r
attention must be paid to their design and
memory hoards which are air cooled: between the
fabrication to avoid undesirable effects. two is insulation and the interface hardware.
Devices made from other materials, such as
GaAs, or other types of devices such as the
modulation-doped FET (MODFET) are less
susceptible to freeze-out and are generally
easier to operate down to liquid-helium
15
 Josephson Devices

Devices that exhibit Josephson ef- from those of the tunnel junction;
fects come in many varieties. The thus, different approaches are
"classic"Josephson device, and the needed to maek ICs or other com-
workhorse of superconductor ponents. Moreover, the charac-
electronics, is the Josephson tunnel teristics of some types are very
junction-two superconductorfilms temperature dependent. Neverthe-
temperatures. Cooling will usually lead to
separated by a thin insulator (fre- less, these alternative Josephson
structures have found use in certain improvements in their characteristics, along
quently a grown oxide). Only a few
nanometersthick, the insulator must applications, and could be more im- the same lines as mentioned above for
be of high quality, robust and defect portant in the future. silicon devices.
free-difficult requirements to meet Regardless of their structure, Germanium is also a good material for
in practice. The thickness of this in-Josephson devices by definition ex- low-temperature devices, and some early
sulator determines an important hibit two effects: the dc Josephson work was done with Ge JFETS. However, a
parameter of the Josephson junc- effect (ability to carry a zero-voltage decline of commercial availability has cur-
tion: its critical current density. The
current or supercurrent), and the ac tailed this activity. Some recent research and
dependence is exponential so dif- Josephson effect (oscillation in the development with Ge devices and ICs has
ferences in thickness of only a few supercurrent when a non-zerovolt- been directed towards signal processing
atomic layers can cause sizable age is applied). Josephson devices electronics for infrared detector arrays
changes in critical current density. are low-voltage, low-power by na-
Moreover, the JJ is a two-state (described below).
ture, which is an advantage for den-
device, without well-definedgain. sie ICs, but a drawback in other Standard homojunction silicon bipolar
These characteristicslimit latitude in situations. Typical levels for JJ transistors have not found use at low
circuit design and make functioning gates are few millivolts, and an in- temperatures because they do not work well,
of an IC sensitive to subtle varia- dividual JJ used as an oscillator may mainly due to inefficient emitter-base in-
tions among individualjunctions. produce only a fraction of a jection rather than carrier freeze-out.
Consequently, more effort must be microwatt, making it difficult to inter- Degradation begins at temperatures consid-
expended on tight process control in face individual devices to conven- erably above that for the onset of freeze-out
IC fabrication, otherwise the yields tional electronics. A solution is to and gain is already poor at liquid-nitrogen
will plummet in complex JJ ICs. use arrays of coupled JJs. The temperature. On the other hand this bipolar
Despite these difficulties, nearly allability to successfully make such ar-
superconductor ICs employ tunnel degradation is beneficial, in junction iso-
rays has resulted from continuous
junctions. refinements of materials and fabrica- lated CMOS ICs as latch-up is virtually
tion technology. eliminated at low temperatures.
In addition to the tunnel junction,
A widely used device incorporating The decline in performance of bipolars
many other structures exhibit
can be overcome by changing their design or
Josephson effects. The only require- the Josephson junction is the
ment is that there are two supercon- SQUID (SuperconductingQuantum materials, as demonstrated by good low-
ductors which are weakly con- Interference Device). The simplest temperature performance of specially fabri-
nected. In other words, there is a version consists of a superconduct- cated bipolars, including InCaAs/InAlAs
"weak spot" which the supercurrent ing loop (inductor) containing a heterojunction bipolars that operate to 4 K.
must traverse. In the tunnel junction single Josephson device. The inter- Although the technology of these newer de-
the insulator provides the weak spot; action of circulating supercurrents in vices is just developing, they represent inter-
however, there are other ways to ac- the loop with the Josephson device esting possibilities for the future. One such
complish the same result. An early give rise to useful properties. In par- possibility is improved performance of
version used a sharply pointed su- ticular, the impedance of the loop is
extremely sensitive to an applied BiCMOS through reduced temperature
perconductor pressed against
another piece of superconductor. In magnetic field. More complex operation.
other versions compatible with varieties, also called infer-
3. Signal Processing for Sensors
planar processingthe weak spot is feromefers, contain several induc-
created by narrowinga superconduc- tors and Josephson devices plus An important application of low-tempera-
tor film at one point or by placing a coupling loops. SQUID circuits are ture semiconductor electronics is processing
normal metal strip across it. These adaptable to both analog and digital of signals from infrared detectors, especially
methods avoid the problems as- applications. Memory ICs have been detector arrays. The most sensitive infrared
sociated with the thin insulator but constructedof SQUIDSin which detectors must be operated cold, sometimes
have their own process control bits take the form of stored currents down to temperatures as low as 0.1 K in
problems and their characteristics in the loops, in analogy with stored order to achieve the desired sensitivity by
may be no more repeatable in charages in semiconductor reducing thermally generated noise and
productionthatn those of the tunnel memories. Since the circulating su-
parasitic currents.
junction. Josephson devices made percurrentssuffer no loss, such a
by these other methods exhibit memory is non-volatilewith zero In this application, a desire to improve
electrical characteristicsdifferent standby power. the characteristics of the transistors in the
processing circuitry is not the prime motiva-
tion for cold operation; rather, it is to have
the circuitry physically close to the detec-

CIRCUITS AND DEVICES

tors and therefore in the same cryogenic
environment. If this were not done, long
wires between the detectors and warm
electronics would cause capacitive loading
and susceptibility to electromagnetic inter-
ference and microphonics that could seri-
ously degrade the feeble signals from the
detectors. Moreover, for large arrays of
detectors, the correspondingly large number
of interconnections would be unwieldy and
would constitute a serious heat load. From a
systems point of view, overall performance
is improved by partitioning the system such
that initial signal processing is located at low
temperature rather than at room temperature.
In applications of this type, providing
refrigeration for the electronics is a less
serious consideration, since it is necessary
anyway for the detectors (although the
electronics may be a primary source of
power dissipation requiring increased
refrigeration capacity).
Infrared astronomers have for many
years used this approach with individual
detectors or small groups of detectors based
both on the ground and in space. In the latter
category are the Infrared Astronomical
Satellite (IRAS), flown in 1983, and the
future Space Infrared Telescope Facility
(SIRTF). The electronics for processing the
detector signal usually consist of a silicon
JFET circuit called a TIA (trans-impedance
amplifier) which, in addition to avoiding the
problems mentioned above, transforms the
high impedance of a typical detector (giga-
ohms) to a manageable value. The JFETs
used have traditionally been commercial
devices selected by hand.
JFETs are chosen over all other device
types because they exhibit the lowest noise
for this application, which involves low fre-
quencies where l/f-like (non-thermal) noise
is a serious concern. Unfortunately, these
devices, being silicon, will not operate
below about 40 K because of carrier freeze-
out; therefore, when detectors are operated
below this temperature (which is common
practice), the JFETs are thermally isolated
from the detectors and operated slightly
above their freeze-out temperature, usually
by self heating. This is not ideal, but because
no single semiconductor device type fulfills
all the requirements, some compromise in
MARCH 1990
device selection is necessary.
Large detector arrays used for surveil-
lance, tracking, or earth-resources imaging
may consist of 105 or more detectors,
making it impractical to use discrete transis-
tors for processing, which typically includes
both preamplification and multiplexing. In-
stead, integrated processing electronics are
used (Fig. 2a), either on the same chip as the
detectors or on a separate chip in a hybrid
configuration (Fig. 2b). Both detectors and
transistors must operate at the same tempera-
ture, which may be from 80 K down to a few
degrees. The processing circuits are usually
based on specially designed MOS devices
(including CCDs), which allows exploita-
tion of the well-developed silicon VLSI
technology base. Since MOS devices have
the disadvantage of higher noise than JFETs,
the latter are sometimes used at the input if
the operating temperature permits. In order U
MULTIPLEXER CHIP
to achieve the desired performance for in-
frared detector arrays, there has been a great
deal of research and development effort.
SIGNAL
I
This area of cold semiconductor electronics
has seen the most activity devoted to ”ustom
design, resulting in many special devices
and circuits, including signal-processing
devices fabricated in HgCdTe and InSb, as
well as three-dimensional stacking of IC
chips.
There are many additional variations on
this theme of closely coupling electronic
circuits to cooled sensors. Frequently a sen-
sor is operated cold in order to obtain its
ultimate sensitivity, so it is important that its
electrical output signal is not degraded
before it reaches room temperature. Exam-
ples include preamplifiers and oscillators for
magnetic resonance apparatus, instrumenta-
tion for wind tunnels and particle accelerato-
rs, and preamplifiers for radiation detectors,
scanning tunneling microscopes, and
SQUIDS superconducting devices (see
“Josephson Devices”).
Since these applications represent a very
small market, they rely on semiconductor
devices of conventional manufacture, as
does infrared astronomy. Finding appr-
opriate transistors, particularly for the lowest
temperatures, is primarily a matter of trial
and error. Some guidelines have been devel-
oped to aid the search, but low-temperature
17

Bias
$ AND
F
Bias
' 82 pm '
Fig. 3. E.vumples oj'Josephson juni'tion logic,ICs.
Fi,yiii-r c'ourtrsy of Fujitsu Limited (Atsugi.
Juput1 j
(uj Pliotogruph of U Josephson junction 4-hit
mic~roproce.s.sorc.hip. The d i i p is .5 mni by 5 nim
and contuins 501 I JJs of N h . nith junc.tion.7 us
smull as 2.5 m diumrter-. Wlien immersed in LHe.
the chip operutes ut u i~lockfieyuen~~v of770 M H ;
with pon'er dissipation of 5 mW; compured to an
eyuiwlent semrc.onduc,tor.mic.roproressor this i s
uppro.~imutel~ I O timesfaster und400 tinws lou,er
puw.
( hj Circ.uit und p h o t o p z p h of a Josephson unit
w l l ubhichperfi)rm.s ( A +B j(C+D j . Tlir tu'o x ' s ure
Joseph~onjunctioris; the + signs i n circles repre
sent OR Rutes whic,h e w h huiv 3 jrrnc,tions. Typi-
ea1 gute deluy ofthe cell i s uhortt 9 p s . u n d p o u w
dissipation i s uhout I I W
18
characteristics may bear little relation to
room-temperature characteristics, so it is
difficult to predetermine which device types,
or even which manufacturer's version will
work best, if at all.
In addition to discrete transistors, com-
mercial integrated circuits such as analog
switches, multiplexers, and operational
amplifiers can be useful for signal process-
ing at low temperatures. Investigations and
applications of such ICs are on the increase
following the commercial appearance of an-
alog ICs based on MOS technology. In
general, these ICs show an improvement in
characteristics down to liquid-nitrogen
temperatures. Data for lower temperatures is
sparse, but some standard commercial ICs
are found to work at liquid-helium ternpera-
ture.
4. Noise
For analog applications such as those con-
sidered above, noise is a key concern, espe-
cially since a common reason for going to
low temperatures is to extract the maximum
sensitivity from a detector or similar device.
As mentioned earlier, noise in semiconduc-
tor devices at low frequencies (from audio to
UHF) can be a problem at low temperatures.
This noise, sometimes called "excess noise,"
is not pure thermal noise, but arises from
processes such as trapping of carriers by
atomic-scale defects in the devices. These
processes can have a complicated tempera-
ture dependence; consequently, low-fre-
quency noise can increase as well a s
decrease upon cooling. A common behavior
is for the noise intensity to go through one
or more minima and maxima as the tempera-
ture is lowered. Also, low-frequency noise
performance varies among the classes of
semiconductor devices, somewhat in cor-
respondence with the relative perfection of
their atomic structures: Ge and Si JFETs are
the quietest whereas Si MOSFETs are
noisier. GaAs MESFETs (designed for
microwave use) also seem to be noisier than
JFETs at low frequency, but more ex-
perience is needed for a reliable comparison.
The situation is less complicated at
microwave frequencies (several GHz to tens
of G H z ) where pure thermal noise is
dominant and decreases with cooling.
Operating microwave preamplifiers at cryo-
genic temperatures has been very useful in
achieving extremely low noise. The two
primary applications are radio astronomy
and deep-space communication where every
fraction of a decibel of receiver sensitivity is
eagerly sought. These preamplifiers use
MESFETs or MODFETs which exhibit a
significant noise reduction in the microwave
range when their temperature is lowered,
typically to about 20 K.
MESFETs based on GaAs have given
excellent results, but in the early 1980s, the
MODFET (also called HEMT) based on Al-
GaAs/GaAs became available. This device
shows superior noise performance at room
temperature, which becomes outstanding
upon cooling. In the 1-10 GHz frequency
range, the MODFET at a temperature of 15
K can achieve a noise temperature of about
3-10 K. This rivals the performance of the
MASER operating at 4 K which has long
held the record for low noise at microwave
frequencies. The semiconductor
preamplifiers have the advantages over the
MASER of being easier to build and operate,
having a greater bandwidth, and not needing
as low a temperature. The difference bet-
ween 15 K and 4 K is significant because a
standard two-stage mechanical cryocooler
can reach 15 K, but reaching 4 K requires an
additional, more complicated refrigeration
stage (usually a Joule-Thompson loop).
At even higher frequencies in the mil-
limeter and far infrared spectral regions,
cooled semiconductor mixers have given
good results. Often the intermediate-fre-
quency amplifiers also use cooled initial
stages. The best performance in this spectral
region, however, is given by superconductor
devices. For although operating semicon-
ductor devices and circuits at low tempera-
tures gives excellent performance and sig-
nificant improvement compared to room
temperature, in certain applications devices
and circuits based on superconductivity give
even better performance.
Superconductor Electronics
Perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon
at cryogenic temperatures is superconduc-
tivity. A variety of devices, both passive and
active, based on superconductivity have
CIRCUITS AND DEVICES
found applications in electronics. For ex-
ample, superconducting films can exhibit
extremely low (although not zero) loss, even
at frequencies as high as tens of GHz, which
is valuable for microwave filters, transmis-
sion lines, transformers and other passive
components. It is also natural to use super-
conductor films to interconnect active
superconductor devices.
1. Signal Processing
Circuits based on superconducting films
have demonstrated real-time analog
processing of signals having G H z
bandwidths, which could be applied to radar,
communications, or spectral analysis. Such
signals can be temporarily stored without
significant attenuation or distortion on min-
iature superconducting transmission lines,
which have the required extremely low loss
and spectral dispersion. Coupled with other
devices, the lines can be configured to pe-
rform complex functions such as filtering,
convolution, correlation, pulse compression
and expansion, Fourier transformation, and
spectral manipulation. Compared to
equivalent signal-processing devices using
normal conductors or based on surface-
acoustic wave (SAW) or acousto-optic
techniques, superconductors can provide an
order of magnitude greater bandwidth.
In addition to passive electronic com-
ponents and interconnections is a whole
range of active electronic circuits and sys-
tems based on the Josephson junction (JJ),
the foremost active device of super-
conductivity. This device’s behavior is
closely linked to the quantum nature and
order of the superconducting state and it has
a number of attributes that are valuable for
electronic applications: fast switching, low
power, wide frequency range, low noise, and
high sensitivity.
2. Digital Systems
Soon after the JJ’s birth in the early 1960’s,
its high speed and low power aroused inter-
est in applying it to computers and other
digital systems. JJ digital gates switch rapid-
ly (under ten picoseconds) and dissipate low
power (a few microwatts). Semiconductor
devices can match either their high speed
(e.g. the MODFET) or their low power (e.g.
MARCH 1990
CMOS), but there is no semiconductor
device that can match both at once. Thus
digital systems and computers based on JJs
could outperform those based on semicon-
ductors.
Experimental digital ICs based on the JJ
are typically five times faster and dissipate
one hundredth the power of equivalent
semiconductor ICs operating at room tem-
perature. The speed advantage of JJs is
reduced when compared to present cooled
semiconductor ICs and might even disap-
pear in comparison with semiconductor ICs
optimized for low temperature, but the lower
power advantage of JJ circuits would
remain. Lower power dissipation allows
greater packing density, which is critical for
projected highly integrated interconnection-
limited systems.
Devices and circuits in JJ electronics
have feature dimensions comparable to
those of their semiconductor counterparts
(micrometers), and likewise incorporate
other elements such as resistors capacitors
and inductors. They are made in a similar
manner although the technology is much
less developed. Like semiconductor tech-
nology, JJ technology requires materials and
process development, device design, and
circuit simulation. Certainly JJ electronics
heavily adapts semiconductor technology
whenever possible, but much unique Fig. 4 . A 70 GHzl5 p s signal analyzer which uses
Josephson junctions for the fiont-end circuitry.
development is needed because of differen-
Photographs courtes-yof Hvpres, Inc. (Elmsford.
ces in materials, devices, and circuits.
NY).
In addition to materials and fabrication (a) Overall view. The 24 junctions, cooled to
challenges, superconductor electronics has approximately 4 K , are only about I cm behind the
been hindered by lack of a good active room-temperature input connectur (just above the
device equivalent to the semiconductor tran- operator’s hand).
sistor. To achieve the basic functions needed (hi A part of the Nh Josephson junction circuitry
in digital superconductor circuits, several JJ on thefused silica chip used in the signalanolyer.
The circuitry is cooled by a jet of LHe.
configurations are employed. In one, the
junction is overlaid with a thin-film strip by
means of which an input current can impress
a localized magnetic field onto the junction
enabling it to be switched (a magnetic field-
effect device). More advanced versions
couple inductively into SQUIDS of various
types. Another type of JJ switching device
works by directly injecting a control current.
Unfortunately, none of these JJ config-
urations works as well as the semiconductor
transistor. They lack important qualities for
three-terminal devices such as output-input
19
 isolation, well defined gain, and inversion.
While circuits can be constructed using
devices without these qualities (witness the
early diode/resistor logic circuits), they do
not favor complexity or manufacturability.
Research has been done on various other
structures to create a "Josephson transistor,"
but the device which will make its way into
practical superconductor electronics has yet
to be developed.
Thus, building a practical electronic sys-
tem, such as a computer, of JJ devices is
more challenging than building a novel one
of semiconductors. A new electronicsdesign
and manufacturing technology must be
developed as well as a means of operating
and interfacing the circuitry at low tempera-
tures must be devised as well as developing
a new electronics design and manufacturing
technology. Futhermore, until new high-
critical-temperature (high-T,) superconduc-
tors become practical, operating tempera-
tures must remain very low (-10 K), entail-
ing considerable difficulties.
Nevertheless, several groups took on the
challenge of developing digital systems. The
' I 1-' \ --
most prominent group, at IBM, hadanexten-
sive decade-long development program for
a Josephson supercomputer that progressed
to the point of demonstrating the essential
elements in a "cross-section" prototype.
I I However, their JJ computer program was
discontinued in 1983. IBM made no official
announcement of the reasons; speculations
put forth cited the difficulties of fabricating
large memory ICs, circuit density limita-
tions, and the diminishing performance
advantage over rapidly improving semi-
conductor electronics. Refrigeration was not
seen as a barrier: design of a liquid-helium
immersion-reliquefaction system was well
under way.
Following IBM's termination of JJ com-
puter development, work on digital systems
and JJ electronics in general took a downturn
in the United States. Work on digital systems
continued in Japan with impressive attain-
ments such a s the JJ microprocessor
developed by Fujitsu (Fig. 3a), although no
complete superconducting computer has yet
appeared. Interest in superconductor digital
circuits, as well as other types of superco-
nductor electronics, has now revived in the
20
U.S. as a result of the discovery of high-T,
materials.
3. Progress on a Smaller Scale
The prospects for large-scale systems such
as computers are uncertain and such systems
involve extensive development programs.
On the o t h e r h a n d , s u p e r c o n d u c t o r
electronics with small numbers of JJs have
enjoyed success in practical applications.
The earliest commercial product was the
magnetometer, appearing i n the early
1970's. This instrument is based on only one
or two JJs in a configuration called a SQUID
and provides the most sensitive means
known for measuring a magnetic field (out-
performing other techniques by an order of
magnitude or more). Usable magnetic field
sensitivitieson the orderof 10~'ogauss/Hz"2
are achieved. Applications outside the field
of cryogenics include measurement of
minute biomagnetic fields from the body
(generated by the heart and brain. for ex-
ample), geophysical research and prospect-
ing, and submarine tracking. In addition. the
SQUID can be readily adapted to measure
voltage, current, and motion.
A recent (1986) commercial instrument.
the signal analyzer made by Hypres. surpas-
ses conventional instruments with its 5 ps
resolution (70 GHz bandwidth) and SO mV
sensitivity (Fig. 4a). Its low-temperature es-
sence is a 1 cm2 (approximately) fused silica
substrate supporting pulse-generation and
sampling circuitry of about two dozen JJs.
The JJ circuits are made with Nb films and
are cooled by a novel schemeusing a jet of
liquid helium.
Prototypes and simulations of other su-
perconductor digital and analog/digital cir-
cuits. including counters, A/D converters,
arithmetic logic, and memory, indicate
potential operating speeds in the few GHz to
hundred GHz range. Superconductor cir-
cuitry is also being considered as an altema-
tive to semiconductor circuitry for the in-
frared-detector signal-processing
electronics described earlier.
4. Oscillating Junctions
In addition to the useful characteristics
described above, the JJ exhibits a unique
property: a self-oscillation whose frequency
CIRCUITS AND DEVICES
is proportional to the voltage across the JJ as
given by
f (2eh)V
where 2e/h = 483.6 GHz/mV. Thus the
voltage, V, and frequency, f, are related
precisely, the proportionality containing
only the fundamental constants e (electron
charge) and h (Planck’s constant). Coupled
with standard frequency sources, this effect
has been put to use since 1972 by the U.S.
National Institute of Standards and Technol-
ogy (formerly the National Bureau of Stand-
ards) as the basis of the U.S. Standard of
Voltage. To obtain a practical voltage (about
I O V), ICs containing as many as 104 JJs in
series are irradiated at 90 GHz.
Recently, the standard of resistance has
become based on another phenomenon
which relies on low temperature, the quan-
tum Hall effect, realized in a special AIGa-
As/GaAs heterostructure operated at 1 K in
a magnetic field of 10 T. These standards of
voltage and resistance were adopted
worldwide on January I , 1990. This is an
important step because it replaces standards
based on artifacts (electrochemical cells and
wire-wound resistors) with “quantum stand-
ards” based on physical phenomena.
The Josephson oscillation can be tuned
rapidly, within nanoseconds, over a wide
frequency range. Thus, JJ oscillators, espe-
cially voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs),
could be a boon as local oscillators for mm
and sub-mm wavelength mixers and
receivers. Although a single JJ has the dra-
wbacks of low impedance (ohm), low output
power (a fraction of a W), and large linewidt-
h, these are being overcome by the develop-
ment of phase-locked JJ arrays which be-
come very attractive compared to alternative
mm and sub-mm sources. Experimental ar-
rays have demonstrated W power levels at
several hundred GHz with inferred linewidth
on the order of 100kHz. Further work should
achieve mW levels to over 1 THz (with low
Tc materials such as Nb and NbN) and to
over 10 THz (with high T, materials), with
linewidths under 1 kHz.
In the same spectral region (about SO-500
GHz), the superconductor-insulator-super-
conductor (SIS) junction has proved valu-
able. Its structure is that of a Josephson
MARCH 1990
tunnel junction, but only the finite-voltage
state is used. The I-V characteristics are very
non-linear because of the superconducting
electrodes, yielding a very sensitive mixer
for mm-wave and far infrared signals. For
example, a noise temperature of about 15 K
has been achieved near 100 GHz, which is
only about two times the quantum limit and
is far better than can be achieved by any
other technique. The primary application is
radio astronomy.
Combining these capabilities, a complete
microwave or millimeter wave receiver can
b e e n v i s i o n e d based e n t i r e l y o n
superconductor components: antenna,
transmission lines, transformers, filters,
parametric amplifier, mixer, and local oscil-
lator. Such a receiver could be integrated in
thin film form to create a superconductor
v e r s i o n of t h e M M I C ( M o n o l i t h i c
Microwave/Millimeter wave Integrated Cir-
cuit) now realized in GaAs. There is an SDI
program to develop just such a receiver for
94 GHz using Nb.
5. Higher Temperatures?
Historically, superconductor electronics was
synonymous with cryogenic temperatures,
in fact very low cryogenic temperatures,
about 4 K being typical. This was imposed
by the characteristics of the materials avail-
able, none of which was superconducting
above 23 K (unchanged from 1973 to 1986).
In the last few years, discoveries of materials
that superconduct at much higher tempera-
tures have opened up possibilities of raising
t h e t e m p e r a t u r e of s u p e r c o n d u c t o r
electronics. Although the mechanisms un-
derlying superconductivity in the new mat-
erials are still the subject of active investiga-
tion, the applications of these materials can
be pursued independently. Superconducting
films have been made from the new
materials and t h e Josephson e f f e c t s
demonstrated up to temperatures in the liq-
uid-nitrogen range.
These developments make it possible to
separate superconductivity from very low
temperatures and perhaps someday there
might even be room-temperature super-
conductor electronics. This could bring the
unique characteristics and benefits of super-
conductivity to a more practical realm and
cause great changes in conventional
electronics.
Unfortunately, nature is not as kind as we
might likein many applications the superior
performance associated with supercon-
ductor electronics derives as much from the
very low temperatures involved, and the
greatly reduced level of thermal disruption,
as it does from the superconducting state.
Thus it is likely that performance of super-
conducting systems will degrade with in-
creasing temperature. For many applicatio-
ns, performance at higher temperatures may
still be adequate, but for the most critical
applications, such as those involving very
low noise and high sensitivity, low tempera-
tures will still be required as in semiconduc-
tor electronics.
Although materials with high Tc’s can be
used at high temperatures, there are good
reasons to do otherwise. To illustrate: a key
parameter of a superconductor is the energy
gap, Eg. For frequencies above that cor-
responding to this energy gap, (fg = E O ) ,
the superconductor becomes lossy, even
more so than a metal such as copper. Eg is
roughly proportional to T,, thus the new
high-T, materials have much larger gaps
compared to the previous materials by about
an order of magnitude and higher frequency
capability by the same factor. Thus the new
superconductors would be valuable to in-
crease the frequency range of devices like
the SIS mixers described earlier. Even
though these SIS mixers could now also
operate at higher temperatures, they would
probably still be operated at very low
temperatures to achieve the lowest possible
noise.
For reasons such as these, even the dis-
covery of room-temperature superconduc-
tors would not render low-temperature
electronics obsolete; don’t put your cryostat
up for auction! However, flexibility of
operating temperature is still in the future, as
the technology of high-Tc superconductivity
is in its infancy. There are many practical
difficulties associated with t h e new
materials; the devices in which Josephson
effects have so far been demonstrated are
rather crude. To develop a practical super-
conductor electronics technology based on
the new materials, a great deal of materials
21
 research and development is needed, just as
was true for the present superconductor
electronics, based on the “old” materials like
Nb and NbN
Hybrid Low-Temperature Electronics
So far this article has considered the benefits
of semiconductor and of superconductor
low-temperature electronics separately, but
there are further benefits to be gained by
combining them. The idea of “hybrid” low-
temperature electronicssemiconductorsand
superconductors, both at low
temperatureshas been around a long time,
but much territory remains to be explored.
The development of high-T, superconduc-
tors has improved the overlap in operating
temperatures of the two branches and
heightened interest in hybrid low-tempera-
ture electronics. There are several ap-
proaches: semiconductor and superconduc-
tor technologies may be combined at the
device, circuit, or system level.
1. Hybrid Devices
At the device level are structures in which
carriers flow in both semiconducting and
superconducting materials or regions. Many
examples have been conceived and some
demonstrated experimentally. A simple ex-
ample of such a device is the super-Schottky
diode, in which the metal Schottky electrode
is a superconductor rather than a normal
metal. This results in a more non-linear
characteristic, which would be valuable for
mixers, but unfortunately this device has not
found much use. Other two-terminal devices
as well as three-terminal hybrid “transistors”
have been devised, and a fair amount of
research has been done on FET-type struc-
tures in which superconducting carriers flow
through a semiconductor material. These
have interesting properties but are all still in
the laboratory stage.
2. Hybrid Circuits and Systems
The most advanced example of a hybrid
circuit is the tapped delay line developed at
MIT Lincoln L a b (Fig. 5a). Here Nb
superconducting transmission lines like
those described earlier are combined with
MOSFETs (Fig. 5b) on the same Si wafer.
The MOSFETs are tapped into the line at
22
intervals, enabling electrical adjustment of
the circuit’s characteristics and affording
greater versatility in analog signal process-
ing. Likewise, other passive superconductor
circuit elements such as high-Q inductors,
resonators or filters could be combined with
semiconductor devices to create hybrid
microwave ICs with reduced loss.
Conceivably circuit hybridization could
be taken one step further, to combine active
superconductor devices, like Josephson
junctions, with semiconductor transistors on
a common IC chip. At present the ad-
vantages which could justify the greatly in-
creased difficulty of fabricating such a chip
are not clear. A system-level hybrid might
make better sense, for example to combine
JJ logic ICs (faster and lower power than
s e m i c o n d u c t o r ) with semiconductor
memory ICs (higher density than supercon-
ductor). It would be desirable to operate both
at a mutually compatible temperature 77 K
for example.
3. Electrical Interfacing
A major hurdle in combining semiconductor
and superconductor devices, either on the
same chip or between chips is electrically
interfacing the two types of devices, which
have significantly different signal levels. As
explained elsewhere, Josephson devices
operate at much lower voltage and power
levels than semiconductor devices. This is
particularly true for the “old” low-Tc
materials like Nb, which have logic voltage
levels of typically a few mV. The high-Tc
materials offer some relief, since their larger
energy gaps correspond to higher signal
levels (in the range of tens of mV). Further
relief would derive from lowering the
operating temperature of semiconductor
devices, which could enable their signal
levels to be reduced to hundreds of mV.
Thus the mismatch, although not eliminated,
is narrowing. A possible method of raising
superconductor devices to the level of semi-
conductor devices is by means of series junc-
tions (“switch arrays”).
4. Interconnections
For both hybrid circuits and hybrid systems,
apopular proposal is to use superconducting
interconnections between individual semi-
CIRCUITS AND DEVICES
 TABLE I LOW-TEMPERATURE ELECTRONICS
(In approximate order from most to least complex)

APPLlCATfON MOTIVATION MODE TECHNOLOGY BASE TYPICAL FREQUENCY TYPICAL TEMPERATURE

COMWTERS HIGH SPEED DIGITAL SI CMOS VLSl IC I 0 0 MHz 77 K

JJ VLSI IC I GHz 4 K‘

SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR CLOSE COUPLING ANALOG/DlGlTAL sl MOS/CMOSa AUDIO to 200 K to 4 K

IR DETECTOR ARRAYS OTHER MIS LSI/VLSI IC FEW MHz

VOLTAGE STANDARD HIGH PRECISION ANALOG JJ SLl/VLSl IC MICROWAVE/DC 4 K’

RESISTANCE STANDARD AlGoAs DC I K

HETEROSTRUCTURE

OPAMPS AND MULTIPLEXERS CLOSE COUPLING ANALOG/DIGITAL Si CMOS IC, AUDIO 77 K to 2 K

FOR GENERAL SIGNA1 COMEMRCIAL
PROCESSING

INSTRUMENTS AND SIGNAL HIGH FREQUENCY, ANALOG/DIGITAL JJ MSI IC MICROWAVE 4 K’

ANALYZERS. COUNTERS/ HIGH SPEED
DIVIDERS, A/D CONVERTERS,
SAMPLERS

RECEIVERS FOR RADIO LOW NOISE ANALOG GOAS MESFET a MICROWAVE 20 K

a SPACE
ASTRONOMY GoAs/AlGoAs MODFET
COMMUNICATIONS DISCRETE, COMMERCIAL

MIXERS a DETECTORSFOR LOW NOISE, ANALOG SIS JUNCTION/JJ MILLIMETER WAVE 4 K’

RADIO/IR ASTRONOMY HIGH FREQUENCY DISCRETE/SSI INFRARED

PREAMPS 8 OSCILLATORS CLOSE COUPLING, ANALOG GoAs MESFET VHFBHF 77 K to 4 K

FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE LOW NOISE DISCRETE, COMMERCIAL
a PARTICLE NTECTORS
POWER CONDITIONING 8 IMPROVED ANALOG SEMICONDUCTOR, DC TO MICROWAVE 77 K
POWER AMPLIFICATION EFFICIENCY DISCRETE, COMMERCIAL

MAGNETOMETERS HIGH SENSITIVITY ANALOG JJ DISCRETE ISQUIDI VHF 4K

PREAMPLIFIERS FOR CLOSE COUPLING, ANALOG SI JFETlMOSFET AUDIO 77 K to 4 K

IR DETECTORS LOW NOISE DISCRETE, COMMERCIAL

SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR LARGE BANDWIDTH ANALOG SUPERCONDUCTOR MICROWAVE 4 K

RADAR, COMMUNICATIONS. TRANSMISSION LINE
a SPECTRUMANALYSIS IPASSIVEI, OR HYBRID
WITH SI MOS

RESEARCH VARIOUS ANALOG 8 DIGITAL VARIOUS VARIOUS ALL

*Presently 011 superconductor-bosed electronics requires temperoturas in the liquid-helium lfew K) ronge; it IS hoped that the operoting temperoture con be rowed by using the recently
discovered high-T. motertols.

conductor transistors on an IC chip or be-
tween chips. The idea is to increase speed in
digital circuits by lowering the line resis-
tance and preserving pulse risetime. For on-
chip use in present ICs, analysis of this idea
does not show a clear benefit, since circuit
delays are dominated by driving resistance
rather than interconnection resistance. As
technology advances to larger chips with
longer lines of smaller cross-section and
speed is pushed higher, superconducting in-
terconnections may be warranted. Switch-
ing currents in such ICs may exceed a den-
sity of 106 A/cm2. The “old” superconduc-
tors like Nb can accommodate this, but films
of the newer high-T, materials will need to
be of good quality. Superconducting inter-
connections between IC chips may prove to
be of value sooner than on-chip interconnec-
tions.
Hopefully this article has provided a
glimpse of the status, potential and tradeoffs
of low-temperature electronics. Low-
temperature electronics has been an enabli-
ng technology for specialized applications
and a valuable option in the pursuit of better
perfromance. Beyond its past and present
successes, and a few disappointments, lie
many future possibilities for both semicon-
ductors and superconductord, and especially
combinations of the two, made more inter-
esting by the recent temperature increases of
superconductivity. Regardless of continuing
advances in electronics technology or fur-
ther increases in the critical temperature of
superconductors, cooling will be beneficial
because the disruptive effects of thermal
energy are reduced, and low-temperature
operation will continue to bring out the ul-
timate performance from devices, circuits
and systems.
Acknowledgment
For reviewing this article and providing
valuable suggestions, I thank Douglas
Carlson (ETA Systems), Jamal Deen (Simon
Fraser University), Edgar Edelsack (George
Washington University), Gennady Gil-
denblat (Pennsylvania State University),
Clark Hamilton and Donald McDonald (Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Tech-

MARCH 1990 23
nology), Don Lauffer (NCR), Stephen Lud-
vik (Teledyne MMIC), James Lukens (State
University of New York), Robert McMurray
(NASA - Ames Research Center), Martin
Nisenoff (Naval Research Lab), David Pal-
mer (Sandia National Labs), Stanley Raider
(IBM Watson Research Center), David Seib
(Rockwell International), Allen Sweet
(Monolithic Applications), Stuart
Tweksbury (AT&T Bell Labs.), and Ted
Van Duzer (University of California,
Berkeley).
I am indebted to the following organiza-
tions and persons for the figures which ap-
pear in this article: ETA Systems (Judy
Murakami and Douglas Carlson), Rockwell
International - Science Center (David Seib),
Fujitsu Limited (Shinya Hasuo), Hypres
(Suzanne McBride), M I T Lincoln
Laboratory (Richard Withers and Alan
Grometstein).
Randall K. Kirschman (M’82-SM34) com-
pleted his undergraduate studies at the
University of California and earned his
Ph.D. in Physics and Electrical Engineering
from the California Institute of Technology
in 1972.
He performed research at the Jet Propul-
sion Laboratory in several areas including
semiconductor and superconductor
materials and devices, and later managed a
hybrid processing laboratory at a division of
Eaton Corporation.
Since 1982 he has consulted to industry,
government and academia in the areas of
microelectronic materials and fabrication
technology, and electronics for extreme
temperatures. He edited the 1986 IEEE Press
book Low-Temperature Electronics and is
on the International Advisory Board of
Cryogenics. He may be reached at PO Box
24
391716, Mountain View, CA 94039-1716.
Tel: (415) 494-1490.
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