Development of superconducting electronics for in-memory computing

We are leaving in the time of digital revolution. The amount of processed data and corresponding large data centers are increasing in an explosive manner.

This causes major problems both with data processing, colloquially known as “the memory wall”, and with the growing energy consumption caused by resistive losses in semiconducting electronics. This has led to a renewed interest in development of a superconducting computer.

Zero resistance of superconductors could lead to a drastic increment of the calculation speed and reduction of the consumed power. It can make a significant contribution for sustainable development of society keeping present trends in digitalization.

Although a functioning RSFQ superconducting computer architecture has been developed half a century ago, it suffers from a problem of principle un-scalability. Therefore, new approaches and ideas are needed for future generations of superconducting computers. In particular, a paradigm shift from the old CPU-centered to new memory-centered data processing would be required.

Within this project we are aiming to develop novel vortex-based superconducting electronic components.

We anticipate that such electronics would be scalable to nanometer sizes and would be suitable both for conventional digital (Boolean logics) operations and, even more interestingly, for emerging analog data processing applicable for neuromorphic artificial intelligence and in-memory computation techniques.