Wednesday, September 4, 2002
Hewlett Packard Auditorium, 306 Soda Hall
4:00-5:00 p.m.

Professor Theodore Van Duzer

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, U.C. Berkeley

Distinguished Lecturer for 2001-2002
IEEE Council on Superconductivity

Applications of Unique Superconductor Quantum Phenomena in Electronics

Abstract:

Some of the unique macroscopic quantum properties of superconductivity will be reviewed, and their applications in electronics will be explained. These include several well-established applications: detectors for radio astronomy used in most radio telescopes; the volt standard developed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST); sharp superconducting filters for cellular base stations now deployed in hundreds of locations; instrumentation for ultra-weak magnetic fields using the superconducting quantum interference detector (SQUID). Other highly developed applications are nearing acceptance, including SQUID magnetocardiography and magnetoencephalography, and high-resolution, high-frequency, analog-to-digital conversion. The status and prospects of single-flux-quantum 50-100 GHz digital integrated circuits for signal processing and computation will be reviewed. Comments will be given on current research directions in superconductor electronics, including quantum computing.

Prof. Van Duzer obtained his formal education at Rutgers University (BS), UCLA (MS) and UC Berkeley (PhD). He is currently a Professor in the Graduate School School in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at Berkeley. He is co-author of two texts: Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics (with S. Ramo and J. R. Whinnery) and Principles of Superconductive Devices and Circuits (with C. W. Turner). He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, recipient of the Berkeley Citation and the IEEE/CSC Award for significant and Continuing Contributions to Applied Superconductivity. He has led a research group in superconductive electronics since 1968, including both devices and circuits. They devised novel Josephson junction device configurations and demonstrated both voltage-state and single-flux-quantum digital circuits operating in the high multi-gigahertz range (up to 20 Gb/s). His group has developed the nation’s most versatile superconducting niobium integrated circuit process line. Present research includes hybrid superconductor/semiconductor systems for memory as well as single-flux-quantum digital circuits for operation at 50 GHz. His group is collaborating to provide superconductive circuits that cannot be made elsewhere. Recent work has demonstrated a new form of Josephson junction, which offers great potential for ultra-high speed single-flux-quantum digital circuits. EMAIL:vanduzer@eecs.berkeley.edu