We review a new superconducting element, called “magnetic Josephson junctions” with a magnetic barrier instead of the insulating barrier of conventional Josephson junctions. We classify the three types of magnetic barrier, i.e., diluted alloy, conventional ferromagnet, and magnetic multilayer barriers, and introduce various new physics such as the π-state arising in magnetic Josephson junctions due to the interaction between superconductivity and magnetism.

The physics and applications of superconducting phase shifts and their control in superconducting systems are reviewed herein. The operation principle of almost all superconducting devices is related to the superconducting phase, and an efficient control of the phase is crucial for improving the performance and scalability. Furthermore, employing new methods to shift or control the phase may lead to the development of novel superconducting device applications, such as cryogenic memory and quantum computing devices. Recently, as a result of the progress in nanofabrication techniques, superconducting phase shifts utilizing π states have been realized. In this review, following a discussion of the basic physics of phase propagation and shifts in hybrid superconducting structures, interesting phenomena and device applications in phase-shifted superconducting systems are presented. In addition, various possibilities for developing electrically and magnetically controllable 0 and π junctions are presented; these possibilities are expected to be useful for future devices.

We present a concept of an advanced rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) logic circuit family using the combination of 0-shifted and π-shifted Josephson junctions. A π-shift in the current-phase relationship can be obtained in several types of Josephson junctions, such as Josephson junctions containing a ferromagnet barrier layer, depending on its thickness and temperature. We use a superconducting quantum interference devices composed of a pair of 0- and π-shifted Josephson junctions (0-π SQUIDs) as a basic circuit element. Unlike the conventional RSFQ logic, bistability is obtained by spontaneous circular currents without using a large superconductor loop, and the state can be flipped by smaller driving currents. These features lead to energy- and/or space-efficient logic gates. In this paper, we show several example circuits where we represent signals by flips of the states of a 0-π SQUID. We obtained successful operation of the circuits from numerical simulation.