Superconducting frustration bit

Abstract

A basic design is proposed for a classical bit element of a superconducting circuit that mimics a frustrated multiband superconductor and is composed of an array of π-Josephson junctions (π-junction). The phase shift of π provides the lowest energy for one π-junction, but neither a π nor a zero phase shift gives the lowest energy for an assembly of π-junctions. There are two chiral states that can be used to store one bit information. The energy scale for reading and writing to memory is of the same order as the junction energy, and is thus in the same order of the driving energy of the circuit. In addition, random access is also possible. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.