Communications of the ACM
Memory Storage for Super-Cold Computing
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have demonstrated a cryogenic memory cell circuit incorporating three inductively coupled Josephson junctions that can harness magnetic flux to store data.
Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have demonstrated a cryogenic (low-temperature) memory cell circuit incorporating three inductively coupled Josephson junctions that can harness magnetic flux to store data.
The cells were tested at about -452 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature near Absolute Zero at which certain materials lose their resistance to the flow of electricity.
The design allows all basic memory operations (read, write, and reset) to be implemented on the same junction cell, which could add stability while saving space and energy as cell circuits are scaled into larger arrays, with implications for quantum and exascale computing.
Said ORNL's Yehuda Braiman, “If scaled, such memory cell arrays could be orders of magnitude faster than existing memories, while consuming very little power."
From Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Abstracts Copyright © 2020 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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