2024/11/06 by Sergey K. Tolpygo, Evan B. Golden, Tolpygo, Sergey K. +11
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Data Storage Technologies #Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Particle Detector Development and Performance #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2411.04045
openalex publication_date 2024/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) logic is a proven energy-efficient superconductor technology for various applications. To address the scalability challenges, we investigated AQFP shift registers with the AQFP footprint area reduced by 25% with respect to prior work and with more than 2x denser overall designs obtained by eliminating the previously used free space between the AQFPs. We also investigated AQFP cells with different designs of flux trapping moats in the superconducting ground plane as well as compact AQFP cells that took advantage of the smaller feature sizes available in the new fabrication process, SFQ5ee+, at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. This new process features nine planarized Nb layers with a 0.25 μm minimum linewidth. The fabricated circuits were tested in a liquid He probe and in a closed-cycle cryocooler using a controlled cooling rate through the superconducting critical temperature. Using multiple thermal cycles, we investigated flux trapping in the dense AQFP shift registers as well as in the registers using the old (sparse) AQFP designs at two levels of the residual magnetic field, about 0.53 μT and about 1.2 μT. The sparse designs demonstrated 95% to almost 100% probability of operation after the cooldown and very wide operation margins, although the flux trapping probability was increasing with circuit complexities. The margins were similarly wide in the newer dense designs, but flux trapping probability that rendered the registers nonoperational was significantly, by an order of magnitude, higher in the denser circuits and was also very sensitive to the moats' shape and location. Our findings indicate that AQFP circuits are amendable to increasing the scale of integration and further densification, but a careful moat design and optimization are required to reduce flux trapping effects in the dense AQFP circuits.