Advances in Superconducting Logic

Over the last two decades, superconducting logic has undergone an evolution that has diversified the basic technology fundamentals and broadened its application space. We have seen the advancement of existing logic families such as RSFQ (rapid single flux quantum) as well as new generations such as AQFP (adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron), eSFQ (energy-efficient single flux quantum), ERSFQ (energy-efficient RSFQ), RQL (reciprocal quantum logic) and others exploring new levels of energy efficiency, complexity, density, and scale. Specifically, in the last 10 years we have seen large-scale government and private industry efforts to turn these new paradigms into viable HPC (high performance computing) systems to quell the insatiable hunger for more operations per watt. As we traverse through this inflection point, we call for topics in this special focus on Advances in Superconducting Logic which highlight recent leaps forward in several key technological areas. These include novel circuits and architectures, materials and Josephson junctions, new superconducting logic elements and memories, as well as the development of superconducting foundries and EDA (electronic design automation) tools. We look to also capture numerous applications in addition to general purpose computing including quantum computing control and readout, neuromorphic computing, digital signal processing and special purpose processing such as hashing algorithms.

Guest Editors: Thomas Ohki, Anna Herr, Coenrad Fourie, and Britton Plourde