Newly developed superconducting memory read and write speeds up to several hundred times

Russian scientists have developed a superconducting memory cell control system that achieves read and write speeds up to hundreds of times faster than similar memories used today, in less than one nanosecond (ns). Scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the Moscow State Univeristy publish the research in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters. This theoretical study predicts the existence of bistable states in complex Josephson Junction superconducting elements. Building such components may require supercooling, rendering it impractical for some applications. A research team headed by Alexander Golubov, director of the MIPT Superconducting System Topology Phenomena in Superconducting Systems, proposed a quantum-based memory cell in a Josephson Junction-type device, a A sandwich of "superconductor-dielectric-superconductor" structure includes a combination of ferromagnet and general metal on one side of the bond. This should be a bistable that allows current to flow laterally into the structure, enabling switching between the two states (1 and 0). With current flowing through the junction, the state of the system can thus achieve a non-destructive read. Read the superconducting current at various states of the memory cell; as the graph shows, the larger the current, the larger the arrowhead (source: MIPT) Depending on the materials used and the geometry of a particular system, the speed of read and write operations required is expected to be in the order of hundreds of picoseconds (ps). Golubov explains, "In addition, our method requires only one magnetic layer, which means that it may fit into a so-called single-flux quantum logic circuit, meaning that it is not necessary to build a completely new architecture for the processor." Based on a single-flux quantum Logical computers can achieve clock speeds of up to hundreds of megahertz (GHz), and their power consumption has been reduced by a few dozen times. " Compile: Susan Hong