Superconductive combinational logic circuit using magnetically coupled SQUID array

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn this paper, we propose the development of superconductive combinational logic circuits. One of the difficulties in designing superconductive single-flux-quantum (SFQ) digital circuits can be attributed to the fundamental nature of the SFQ circuits, in which all logic gates have latching functions and are based on sequential logic. The design of ultralow-power superconductive digital circuits can be facilitated by the development of superconductive combinational logic circuits in which the output is a function of only the present input. This is because superconductive combinational logic circuits do not require determination of the timing adjustment and clocking scheme. Moreover, semiconductor design tools can be used to design digital circuits because CMOS logic gates are based on combinational logic. The proposed superconductive combinational logic circuits comprise a magnetically coupled SQUID array. By adjusting the circuit parameters and coupling strengths between neighboring SQUIDs, fundamental combinational logic gates, including the AND, OR, and NOT gates, can be built. We have verified the accuracy of the operations of the fundamental logic gates by analog circuit simulations.