The Anisotropic Structured Cell: A Practical Cryoelectric Storage Element

The realization of a fast random‐access memory through application of cryoelectric technology is an attractive goal. The substantially perfect diamagnetism which characterizes the superconducting state permits the design of storage elements of very high packing density. The very low power densities and the extreme nonlinearity in the transition between the superconducting and normal states promise very fast operation of these elements with no half‐select or delta noise. In addition, the number of memory positions that can be sensed appears to be quite large. In this paper, I describe the design concepts and performance of a three‐wire1 cryoelectric storage element called the Anisotropic Structured Cell. Included is a comparison of the performance of the ASC storage elements as compared to loop cells of earlier design, and a discussion of the sense amplitude, signal‐to‐noise ratio, cell‐to‐cell isolation, operating tolerance, and operating current levels of high‐density (13 200 cells/in.2) ASC arrays of ¼ ...