A Superconducting-Nanowire Three-Terminal ElectrothermalDevice.

Superconducting electronics basedon Josephson junctions are usedto sense and process electronic signals with minimal loss; however,they are ultrasensitive to magnetic fields, limited in their amplificationcapabilities, and difficult to manufacture. We have developed a 3-terminal,nanowire-based superconducting electrothermal device which has noJosephson junctions. This device, which we call the nanocryotron,can be patterned from a single thin film of superconducting materialwith conventional electron-beam lithography. The nanocryotron hasa demonstrated gain of >20, can drive impedances of 100 kΩ,and operates in typical ambient magnetic fields. We have additionallyapplied it both as a digital logic element in a half-adder circuit,and as a digital amplifier for superconducting nanowire single-photondetectors pulses. The nanocryotron has immediate applications in classicaland quantum communications, photon sensing, and astronomy, and itsinput characteristics are suitable for integration with existing superconductingtechnologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]