[en] A single flux quantum (SFQ) circuit has been designed to demonstrate an energy levels quantization in a Josephson Junction. The high-speed operation of SFQ circuits realizes applying a high-speed ramped bias current to a Josephson junction, which allows the noiseless experiment at higher temperature. A high-speed ramped bias current (dI/dt=2000 A/s) is applied to a Josephson junction using the proposed circuit. Although the energy levels quantization has not been observed yet, the obtained escape rate was high enough to observe the energy levels quantization. The proposed circuit indicates the effectiveness of SFQ circuits as experimental apparatuses

[en] Highlights: • We performed yield analysis of adiabatic-quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) circuits. • Monte Carlo simulations were conducted assuming the distribution of the critical current. • We made an analytical model for the circuit yield of large-scale AQFP circuits. • AQFP integrated circuits containing more than 1 million gates can be realized. • The standard deviation of the critical current should be less than 1%. - Abstract: We performed yield analysis of large-scale adiabatic-quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) circuits using circuit simulations based on the Monte Carlo method assuming the distribution of the critical current of Josephson junctions. Based on the simulation results, we also made an analytical model for the circuit yield of large-scale AQFP circuits. The yield analysis indicates that AQFP integrated circuits containing 1 million gates can be realized when the interconnect inductance is about 40 pH and the normalized standard deviation of the critical current is less than 1%

[en] Three overlapping genomic clones that contain the 5'-terminal portion of the human c-erbB-2 gene (ERBB2) were isolated. The promoter region was identified by nuclease S1 mapping with c-erbB-2 mRNA. Seven transcriptional start sites were identified. DNA sequence analysis showed that the promoter region contains a TATA box and a CAAT box about 30 and 80 base pairs (bp), respectively, upstream of the most downstream RNA initiation site. Two putative binding sites for transcription factor Sp1 were identified about 50 and 110 bp upstream of the CAAT box, and six GGA repeats were found between the CAAT box and the TATA box. This region had strong promoter activity when placed upstream of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and transfected into monkey CV-1 cells. These data indicate that the promoter of the human c-erbB-2 protooncogene is different from that of the protooncogene c-erbB-1 (epidermal growth factor receptor gene), which does not contain either a TATA box or a CAAT box. Comparison of the promoter sequences and activities of the two protooncogenes should be helpful in analysis of the regulatory mechanism of expression of their gene products, which are growth-factor receptors

[en] The magnetic properties of Ce(Pd_1-xNi_x)₂Al₃ have been investigated using the NMR technique. The decreasing volume with increasing Ni concentration drastically affects the antiferromagnetic order, the temperature dependence of the Knight shift and the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate of ²⁷Al. The static and dynamic properties of Ce 4f state in Ce123 compounds is discussed. ((orig.))

[en] The magnetic properties of a new heavy-fermion compound CePd₂Al₃ with T_N=2.9 K have been investigated using NMR techniques. Above T_N the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T₁ of ²⁷Al increases gradually up to 20 K and becomes T independent above 20 K. Below T=3.0 K, just above T_N, 1/T₁ drops rapidly without the enhancement around T_N. The relaxation behavior in CePd₂Al₃ is quite similar to that in the heavy-fermion superconductor UPd₂Al₃. ((orig.))

[en] In 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.

[en] We have been studying a superconducting quantum-computing system where superconducting Josephson-junction quantum bits (qubits) are controlled and read out by rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) circuits. In this study, we designed and fabricated an on-chip RSFQ microwave pulse generator (MPG), which generates microwave pulses with the time resolution of sub-ns for precise control of qubit states. The output microwave amplitude of the MPG can be amplified to more than 350 μV using a multi-flux-quantum (MFQ) driver, which increases the number of the propagating single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulses. Fundamental properties of the MFQ driver and the RSFQ MPG were measured at 4.2 K. It was confirmed that the MFQ driver can amplify an SFQ pulse up to six MFQ pulses and the irradiation time and the amplitude of the output microwave of the RSFQ MPG can be controlled adequately.

[en] High-frequency microwave applications, such as filters, delay lines, and resonators, are quite important for superconducting electronic devices. In order to design the superconducting microwave devices, circuit parameters should be precisely extracted from the physical structure of the devices. A 3-dimensional electromagnetic-field simulator is very useful for designing microwave devices. However, designing of superconducting microwave devices using a conventional 3D electromagnetic-field simulator is difficult because most of commercially available 3D electromagnetic-field simulators can not exactly characterize electromagnetic phenomena of superconductors. In this study, a novel calculation method of superconducting microwave devices, which can be applicable to a conventional 3D electromagnetic-field simulator, has been proposed. Calculation results of characteristic impedance of superconducting microstrip lines show very good agreements with the theoretically calculated vales. The frequency response of a superconducting Nb microwave filter designed by the proposed calculation method agrees well with the experimental results. This calculation method enables us to precisely estimate microwave characteristics of superconducting devices.

[en] Highlights: • Balanced Josephson comparator decisions depend on previous decisions at high frequencies. • The maximum effective data rate is lower than the clock frequency. • Tradeoff between maximum effective data rate and minimum comparator gray-zone. - Abstract: The performance of a balanced Josephson comparator is measured by its gray-zone and its maximum operation frequency. A typical effect at high clock frequencies is the correlation of output bits with their predecessors, the comparator develops a memory. This is undesirable, as it imposes an upper limit on the useful clock frequency at which the comparator can be operated. In this work, we describe and observe experimentally the memory effect of a Josephson comparator and study its influence on the gray zone width and the maximum effective data rate

[en] Highlights: • We proposed single-flux-quantum (SFQ) time-to-digital converters (TDCs) for TOF-MS. • SFQ TDC can measure time intervals between multiple signals with high-resolution. • SFQ TDC can directly convert the time intervals into binary data. • We designed two types of SFQ TDCs to reduce the jitter. • The jitter is reduced to less than 100 ps. - Abstract: We have been developing a high-resolution superconducting time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) system, which utilizes a superconducting strip ion detector (SSID) and a single-flux-quantum (SFQ) time-to-digital converter (TDC). The SFQ TDC can measure time intervals between multiple input signals and directly convert them into binary data. In our previous study, 24-bit SFQ TDC with a 3 × 24-bit First-In First-Out (FIFO) buffer was designed and implemented using the AIST Nb standard process 2 (STP2), whose time resolution and dynamic range are 100 ps and 1.6 ms, respectively. In this study we reduce the jitter of the TDC by using two different approaches: one uses an on-chip clock generator with an on-chip low-pass filter for reducing the noise in the bias current, and the other uses a low-jitter external clock source at room temperature. We confirmed that the jitter is reduced to less than 100 ps in the latter approach