The new superconducting electronics : [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on the New Superconducting Electronics, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, U.S.A., August, 9-20, 1992

This volume is based on the proceedings of the NATO-sponsored Advanced Studies Institute (ASn on The New Superconducting Electronics (held 9-20 August 1992 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire USA). The contents herein are intended to provide an update to an earlier volume on the same subject (based on a NATO ASI held in 1988). Four years seems a relatively short time interval, and our title itself, featuring The New Superconducting Electronics, may appear somewhat pretentious. Nevertheless, we feel strongly that the ASI fostered a timely reexamination of the technical progress and application potential of this rapid-paced field. There are, indeed, many new avenues for technological innovation which were not envisioned or considered possible four years ago. The greatest advances by far have occurred with regard to oxide superconductors, the so-called high­ transition-temperature superconductors, known in short as HTS. These advances are mainly in the ability to fabricate both (1) high-quality, relatively large-area films for microwave filters and (2) multilayer device structures, principally superconducting-normal-superconducting (SNS) Josephson junctions, for superconducting-quantum-interference-device (SQUID) magnetometers. Additionally, we have seen the invention and development of the flux-flow transistor, a planar three-terminal device. During the earlier ASI only the very first HTS films with adequate critical-current density had just been fabricated, and these were of limited area and had high resistance for microwave current. This book provides a current review of recent advances in all aspects of superconducting electronics, both for the tradition (4 K) liquid helium based (LTS) materials and the more recent ceramic (HTS) materials that can operate at higher temperatures in the range of liquid nitrogen (77 K). Special emphasis has been placed on the rapid progress over the past two years in the fabrication of thin-film structures which provide the potential for vastly improved passive elements in microwave circuitry and active components for signal processing and magnetic sensors. The fundamentals of superconducting and single-electron tunneling, as well as a detailed explanation of SQUID fundamentals, are presented. Current and projected applications of superconducting electronic and magnetic-sensing elements are discussed. The book concludes with four chapters devoted to new generations of analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors. This information should prove valuable to scientists and engineers engaged in R & D on improved electromagnetic sensing and signal processing, the fabrication of thin-film components, and practical applications of rapidly emerging LTS and HTS superconducting technology. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Fundamentals of Giaever and Josephson Tunneling....Pages 1-28 Quantum Interference in Superconducting Mesoscopic Systems....Pages 29-58 Materials Issues Affecting the New Superconducting Electronics....Pages 59-87 Thin Film Structures....Pages 89-122 SQUIDS: Theory and Practice....Pages 123-180 More SQUID Applications....Pages 181-220 Solitons and Long Josephson Junctions....Pages 221-248 Superconducting Field-Effect Devices....Pages 249-275 Passive Microwave Devices and Their Applications....Pages 277-310 Microwave Electronics....Pages 311-328 Josephson Analog-to-Digital Converters....Pages 329-361 Josephson Microprocessors....Pages 363-399 Single Electron Effects....Pages 401-421 Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum Logic....Pages 423-452 Back Matter....Pages 453-457 Reviews recent advances in all aspects of superconducting electronics, both for the traditional (4K) liquid helium based materials and the more recent ceramic materials that can operate at higher temperatures in the range of liquid nitrogen (77K).