Computer applications of high temperature superconductivity

The new high temperature superconductors open up possible applications in magnets, power transmission, computer interconnections, Josephson devices and instrumentation, among many others. This paper presents a case study of one of these applications — the use of superconducting interconnects in 77 K CMOS semiconducting chips and packages. Significant leverage vis-a-vis normal metal interconnects at 77 K appears primarily in the packaging (rather than on-chip) and only at high performance (high frequency). As in other applications, this encourages a long-term view of the impact of high temperature superconductivity. © 1988, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.. All rights reserved.