The Fundamental Law of Science and Technology and the Basic Plan of Science and Technology were established in Japan in 1995 and 1996, respectively and the second Basic Plan for Science and Technology R&D was established in April, 2001. In addition, as a part of Japanese government administrative reform, the Council for Science and Technology Policy was organized in the Cabinet Office and the most of the national research laboratories including the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) have been restructured to the Independent Administrative Institution (IAI). This paper introduces first the relationship between the info-communications R&D and the national science and technology policy in Japan. Second, the R&D of CRL, IAI is introduced. Third, as a typical example of the wireless communications R&D, the research of wireless communication in CRL is shown in more detail in terms of terrestrial wireless/mobile communication system and satellite communication system. Finally the future prospect of such an R&D is shown briefly.

Spatial multiplexing, or BLAST, is a signaling technique for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels in which multiple independent data streams are transmitted in parallel in space. The independence between streams, unfortunately, limits the diversity advantage. In this paper we present a space-time code design, using the linear dispersion code framework, for MIMO Rayleigh fading channels. Our design provides codes that have the same ergodic capacity performance as spatial multiplexing but allows for improved diversity advantage. We present a technique for finding good codes based on successive projection. Monte Carlo simulations illustrate performance improvements over spatial multiplexing in terms of bit error probability.

Implementation of Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) channel sounder is considered, taking hardware cost and realtime measurement into account. A remarkable difference between MIMO and conventional Single-Input Multi-Output (SIMO) channel sounding is that the MIMO sounder needs some kind of multiplexing to distinguish transmitting antennas. We compared three types of multiplexing TDM, FDM, and CDM for the sounding purpose, then we chose FDM based technique to achieve cost effectiveness and realtime measurement. In the framework of FDM, we have proposed an algorithm to estimate MIMO channel parameters. Furthermore the proposed algorithm was implemented into the hardware, and the validity of the proposed algorithm was evaluated through measurements in an anechoic chamber.

Iterative schemes for demodulating M-ary orthogonal signaling formats in direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems are proposed and compared with the standard noncoherent matched filter receiver. Interference cancellation, i.e., (approximative) removal of the multiple access interference (MAI) by means of subtraction is studied. The considered system is similar to the uplink (reverse link) of an IS-95 system. Hence, the received signals from the concurrent users are asynchronous, and no pilot signals are available for channel estimation. A decision-directed algorithm is proposed for estimating the time-varying complex channel gains of a multipath channel. The receivers are evaluated on Rayleigh-fading channels and are shown to provide large capacity gains compared with the conventional receiver.

The electronically steerable passive array radiator (ESPAR) antenna performs analog aerial beamforming that has only a single-port output and none of the signals on its passive elements can be observed. This fact and one that is more important--the highly nonlinear dependence of the output of the antenna from adjustable reactances--makes the problem substantially new and not resolvable by means of conventional adaptive array beamforming techniques. A novel approach based on stochastic approximation theory is proposed for the adaptive beamforming of the ESPAR antenna as a nonlinear spatial filter by variable parameters, thus forming both beam and nulls. Our theoretic study, simulation results and performance analysis show that the ESPAR antenna can be controlled effectively, has strong potential for use in mobile terminals and seems to be very perspective.

Achieving optimal performance with minimal complexity are conflicting problems encountered in constructing receivers. In this paper, to solve the problem, we propose sector beamed space hopping which utilizes a Viterbi equalizing receiver. Reduction of the number of RF circuit sets, system complexity and decreasing the computational burden of the Viterbi equalizer through the use of sector beamed space hopping is presented. This is achieved using a sector beamed antenna which limits the number of paths in the multipath channel environment. This paper describes each key component which comprises the system and discusses the application of FH-SS communication. The channel is assumed to be an industrial indoor propagation channel, such as those found in a factory, where high reliability is required and many complex multipaths exist. We confirm through simulation that Viterbi equalization using less computational complexity can be obtained. It is found that there exists a trade off between system complexity and performance. Through the discussion of power consumption, cost and BER performance, we show that the proposed system achieves acceptable performance while having a low system complexity.

In this paper, the iterative decoding of BCH product codes also called Block Turbo Codes (BTC) is evaluated for the HIPERLAN/2 OFDM system. Simulations show that expurgated BCH codes should be chosen as constituent codes in order to outperform the specified convolutional code. We also show that the bit-by-bit frequency interleaver has a big impact on the behaviour of the turbo decoding process and that increasing its size together with time diversity lead to good performance when compared to the convolutional code.

In this paper, we propose a turbo equalization scheme for GMSK signals with frequency detection. Although the channel is AWGN, there exists severe ISI (Inter-Symbol Interference) in the received signal due to the premodulation Gaussian baseband filter in the transmitter as well as the narrowband IF filter in the receiver. We regard these two filters as a real number inner convolutional encoder. The ISI equalizer for this inner encoder and the outer decoder for a RSC (Recursive Systematic Convolutional) code, are connected through a random (de-)interleaver. These inner and outer decoders generate the reliability values in terms of LLR (Log Likelihood Ratio), using MAP or SOVA algorithm with SISO (soft input and soft output). Moreover iterative decoding with the limitation of LLR values are employed between two decoders to achieve a turbo equalization for GMSK frequency detection. Through computer simulations, the proposed system shows the BER=10^-5 at E_b/N₀=8.8 dB, when we take BT=0.6 (IF filter bandwidth multiplied by symbol duration) with the iteration number of 3. This means 3.1 dB improvement compared with the conventional scheme where the inner ISI equalizer is concatenated with the outer hard decision Viterbi decoder.

An approach to the enhancement of speech signals corrupted by additive colored noise is proposed and the system architecture to implement the proposed idea in real-time communication is introduced in this paper. A combination of a bandpass FIR filtering technique with wiener filtering is used to improve the SNR for speech signals. The average SNR improvement (between input and output SNR) is 22.48 dB. The additive noises are the sound from a turbo prop aircraft. The system, which shows excellent performance, is designed based on a 16 bits fixed point DSP (ADSP-2181) from Analog Devices. Experiment results demonstrate that the FIR filter leads to a significant gain in SNR, thus visibly improvement for the quality and the intelligibility of the speech.

This paper proposes an adaptive transmission scheme for web prefetching in wireless communication systems. The proposed adaptive transmission scheme controls the modulation format and the error control scheme according to the access probability of the web document being transmitted. In the proposed system, the actually requested documents and the documents which have high access probability are transmitted with a reliable transmission format, while the pages whose access probabilities are lower than a certain threshold are transmitted with a bandwidth efficient transmission format. The computer simulation results show that the proposed scheme drastically improves the latency performance.

Scalabilities of bit rate and coding format in coded multimedia contents have become very important for the efficient use of network bandwidth and storage capacity with the recent availability of a wide variety of bandwidth and storage media. However, the conventional approach uses decompression and recompression processes to realize the above scalabilities, which require very expensive computations. In addition, a very large cache space is required for storing the decoded audio-video data. This paper describes three fast scalability methods for MPEG audio and video data, MPEG audio/video bit rate conversion and MPEG format conversion, in order to address these problems. As for the first scalability, MPEG audio coding bit rate conversions, we describe subband domain conversion using bandwidth limitation, requantization and a requantization reflecting phychoacoustic model. Four types of MPEG video bit rate conversion are described that use bandwidth limitation, out-loop requantization, in-loop requantization, and hybrid requantization. As for the format conversion, the fast baseband domain format conversion is performed using coding information such as motion vectors and coding types extracted from input coded video. The experimental results of several comparisons with the above scalabilities and conventional transcoding methods are also shown.

We have studied an image acquisition system for a real-time image- based rendering (IBR) system. In this area, most conventional systems sacrifice spatial or temporal resolution for a large number of input images. However, only a portion of the image data is needed for rendering, and the portion required is determined by the position of the imaginary viewpoint. In this paper, we propose an acquisition system for a real-time image-based rendering system that uses pixel-based random-access image sensors to eliminate the main bottleneck in conventional systems. We have developed a prototype CMOS image sensor, which has 128 128 pixels. We verified the prototype chip's selective readout function. We also verified the sample & hold feature.

This article addresses the problem of designing and implementing multigigabit post-detection filters for application in optical communication systems using optical soliton pulses. The designed filters have the main advantages of full integration, electrically adjustable frequency response and active input and output impedance match.

To the aim of developing industrializable low-cost electronic techniques for the compensation of non-linearities in Radio-over-Fibre networks, a semiconductor laser circuit model and a predistortion circuit configuration have been implemented and simulated. The CAD procedure illustrated indicates the steps to obtain a broadband compensation (0.4-2 GHz) of both second- and third-order distortions.

Two novel linearization processes in electro-absorption-modulator (EAM) are proposed and demonstrated. These two modulation schemes are used to compensate the nonlinear component of the EAM by controlling the DC bias voltages of the each EAM separately. The simulations on the nonlinearity of EAM and linearization process are performed in both time and frequency domains. From a serially cascaded modulation simulation, a reduction of 16 dB in IMD3, 45 dB in IMD5 and the following increase of 15 dB in linear dynamic rage (LDR) are achieved. In dual-parallel modulation experiment at 8 GHz, a reduction of 23 dB in IMD3 and the following increase of 15.1 dB in LDR of are achieved compared to those of a single EAM operation.

With the emerging technology of photonic networks, careful design becomes necessary to make most of the already installed fibre capacity. Appropriate numerical tools are readily available. Usually, these are based on the split-step Fourier method (SSFM), employing the fast Fourier transform (FFT). With N discretization points, the complexity of the SSFM is O(N log₂N). For real-world wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, the simulation time can be of the order of days, so any speed improvement would be most welcome. We show that the SSFM is a special case of the so-called collocation method with harmonic basis functions. However, for modelling nonlinear optical waveguides, various other basis function systems offer significant advantages. For calculating the propagation of single soliton-like impulses, a problem-adapted Gauss-Hermite basis leads to a strongly reduced computation time compared to the SSFM . Further, using a basis function system constructed from a scaling function, which generates a compactly supported wavelet, we developed a new and flexible split-step wavelet collocation method (SSWCM). This technique is independent of the propagating impulse shapes, and provides a complexity of the order O(N) for a fixed accuracy. For a typical modelling situation with up to 64 WDM channels, the SSWCM leads to significantly shorter computation times than the standard SSFM.

In this article we present the subject of wideband channel modeling and simulation, stressing the method of orthogonalization. We compare the performance of this simulation method using Karhunen-Loeve, Wavelets and other basis over radio channels represented via the Input-Delay Spread Bello Function.

This contribution discusses which information can be derived from estimated directions of arrival (DOAs) and directions of departure (DODs) from a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio system, and establishes two new parameters describing the multipath spread at both link ends. We find that the multipath component separation, MCS, combines delay, (double-) angular and Doppler dispersion, as appropriate. MCS provides a system-independent radio characterization of propagation environments and aids in selecting optimum positions for smart-antenna deployment. Evaluation of double-directional measurements (antenna arrays at both link ends) in indoor environments show the usefulness and the limits of the multipath component separation concept.

Recent advances make it possible to mitigate a number of drawbacks of conventional phase locked loops. These advances permit the design of phase tracking system with much improved characteristics that are sought after in modern communication system applications. A new phase tracking system is outlined which reduces the effects of VCO phase noise to an insignificant level. This fact permits extremely narrow bandwidth phase tracking systems to be realized, even when a VCO with poor phase noise characteristics is employed. The improvement in performance over conventional phase locked loops is analyzed. The new phase tracking system also has other benefits such as precise centre frequency and elimination of peaking in the transfer function. To implement the phase tracking system requires a frequency measurement. We outline a new highly integrated frequency measurement method suitable for narrow bandwidth applications. Experimental results from a prototype confirms theoretical results.

A new low-voltage, all-in-one ESD (electrostatic discharging) protection circuit was designed. One such ESD protection unit is enough to protect each I/O pad against ESD stresses of all modes, i.e., from I/O to power supply and ground positively and negatively. This novel ESD circuit features adjustable trigger-voltage, i.e., 5 V to 60 V, with low turn-on threshold down to 5 V, symmetric active discharging channels in all directions, fast response time of 0.1 to 0.3 ns, and high ESD performance/area ratio of greater than 80 V per micrometer width. It was implemented in commercial BiCMOS technologies and achieved 14 kV human body model (HBM) and 15 kV air-gap IEC ESD protection levels. This compact ESD structure can not only provide adequate ESD protection, but also minimize the ESD-induced parasitic effects, which makes it a suitable ESD protection solution for mixed-signal and RF ICs in very deep sub-micron regime.

In this paper, characteristics of a digital system dedicated to the fast execution of the FDTD algorithm, widely used for electromagnetic simulation, are presented. Such system is conceived as a module communicating with a host personal computer via a PCI bus, and is based on a VLSI ASIC, which implements the "field-update" engine. The system structure is defined by means of a hardware description language, allowing to keep high-level system specification independent of the actual fabrication technology. A virtual implementation of the system has been carried out, by mapping such description in a standard-cell style on a commercial 0.35 µm technology. Simulations show that significant speed-up can be achieved, with respect to state-of-the-art software implementations of the same algorithm.

New bandpass filters (BPFs) with stub resonators are proposed for creating multiple attenuation poles. Firstly, the stub-dependent characteristics of the distributed-element stubs are examined theoretically. Secondly, the new BPFs with resonators of combined stubs are proposed. An advantage of these filters is the possibility of controlling the number of attenuation poles. The design of the proposed filter is carried out based on the general filter design with the narrow-band approximation technique. The transmission and reflection characteristics of the proposed BPFs are also examined theoretically and experimentally. The miniaturization of the filters is also carried out using the resonator with loaded-element stubs. The discussions lead us to the conclusion that the proposed design method of the filters are useful for controlling the number of attenuation poles of the BPF.

A flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that uses resonant-tunneling complex gates is proposed. The ternary quantizers, consisting of monostable-to-multistable transition logic (MML) circuits, convert the analog input signal into the ternary thermometer code. This code is then converted into the binary Gray-code output by a multiple-valued multiple-input monostable-bistable transition logic element (M²-MOBILE). By assuming InP-based resonant-tunneling diode (RTD) and heterojunction field-effect transistor technology, we have carried out SPICE simulation that demonstrates a 4-bit, 10-GS/s ADC operation. The input bandwidth, defined as a frequency at which the effective number of bit decreases by 0.5 LSB, was also estimated to be 500 MHz. Compact circuit configuration, which is due to the combination of MML and M²-MOBILE, reduces the device count and power dissipation by a factor of two compared with previous RTD-based ADCs.

This paper describes a simple design of a broad-band four-way power divider with 45-degree phase differences between output ports. In the first stage of our work, we present a new broad-band 90-degree power divider. The phase error of the power divider here is less than one-tenth of the conventional 90-degree branch-line hybrid. Next, an experimental UHF-band four-way power divider using a broad-band 90-degree power divider and two broad-band 45-degree power dividers is presented. Over the frequency range from 0.86 to 1.06 GHz, the experimental four-way power divider exhibits power splits of -6.420.25 dB, return losses of greater than 15 dB, errors in the desired relative-phase difference between output ports of less than 1 degree, and isolation between output ports of greater than 15 dB. This divider is useful for realizing low distortion and high efficiency amplifiers without the need for an isolator.

This letter presents a low spurious frequency setting algorithm for a triple tuned type PLL synthesizer driven by a DDS. The triple tuned PLL synthesizer is based on a single PLL configuration with two variable frequency dividers. The DDS is employed for a reference source of the PLL. The proposed algorithm determines appropriate frequency tuning values of the DDS frequency and the division ratios of two frequency dividers. The division ratios are selected to achieve a desired output frequency while the low spurious condition of the DDS has been maintained. A 5 to 10 GHz synthesizer with frequency step of 500 kHz demonstrated spurious level below -46 dBc with improvement of 13 dB.

The full wave TTL method is used to calculate the complex resonance frequency of the rectangular finline resonator. In this direct and concise method, the Maxwell's equations in Fourier transform domain, are used to obtain the electromagnetic fields in terms of the transversal electromagnetic fields. The complex resonant frequency is obtained by setting the determinant of the system matrix equal to zero and results in 3D using Fortran PowerStation programs are presented for different parameters including substrate thickness, permittivity and width of the slot resonator.

In this paper, we describe our SFQ circuit design and measurement carried out in SRL-ISTEC. We are studying an oversampling sigma-delta modulator and a counter-type decimation filter with multistage structure for developing AD converters for software-defined radio application. We are also developing a superconducting memory, whose peripheral circuits are constructed with SFQ circuits.

We present measurements of kilohertz and megahertz sine waves synthesized using a Josephson arbitrary waveform synthesizer. A 4.8 kHz sine wave synthesized using an ac-coupled bias technique is shown to have a stable 121 mV peak voltage and harmonic distortion 101 dB below the fundamental (-101 dBc (carrier)). We also present results of our first phase-noise measurement. A 5.0 MHz sine wave was found to have distortion 33 dB lower than the same signal synthesized using a semiconductor digital code generator. The white-noise floor of the Josephson synthesized signal is -132 dBc/Hz and is limited by the noise floor of the preamplifier.

We present a design framework of a high-end server based on Single-Flux-Quantum (SFQ) circuit technologies. The server proposed here has multiple microprocessors and memories, which are mounted on a single board or package and are connected each other by SFQ interconnection switches. The extremely large bandwidth up to 100 Gbps/channel in the interconnection will be realized because of high throughput nature of the SFQ circuits. SFQ memories or Josephson-CMOS hybrid memories are employed as the shared memory of the multiprocessor. The SFQ microprocessors are constructed based on the complexity-reduced (CORE) architecture, in which complexity of the system is eased in exchange for using a high clock rate of the SFQ circuits. The processor is so-called Java-processor that directly executes the Java Byte Codes. Assuming a proper advancement of the Nb/AlO_x/Nb integrated circuit process technology, we have estimated that the power consumption of the server system including a cryocooler is reduced by a factor of twenty as compared to the future CMOS system with the same processor performance, while the SFQ system has 100 times of magnitude larger memory-processor bandwidth.

High-end telecommunication systems in the larger nationwide networks of the next decade will require routers having a packet switching throughput capacity of over 10 Tbps. In such future high-end routers, the packet switch, which is the biggest bottleneck of the router, will need higher processing speeds than semiconductor devices. We propose a high-end router system architecture using single flux quantum (SFQ) technology. This system consists of semiconductor line card units and an SFQ switch card unit. The features of this switch card architecture are (1) using internal speedup architecture to reduce effective loads in the network, (2) using a packet switch scheduler to attain non-blocking characteristics. This architecture can expand the switching capacity to a level greater than tens of Tbps scale, keeping with non-blocking characteristics.

We present the design of dual rail Data Driven Self Timed (DDST) DEMUX and MUX circuits for 50 GHz operation. The chosen current density is 6.5 kA/cm² and simulations show good margins for speeds exceeding 50 GHz. Our previously reported dual-rail on-chip test system is also scaled up for 50 GHz operation.

We describe the logic design of a single-flux-quantum (SFQ) 22 unit switch. It is the main component of the SFQ Banyan packet switch we are developing that enables a switching capacity of over 1 Tbit/s. In this paper, we focus on the design of the controller in the unit switch. The controller does not have a simple "off-the-shelf" conventional circuit, like those used in shift registers or adders. To design such a complicated random logic circuit, we need to adopt a systematic top-down design approach. Using a graphical technique, we first obtained logic functions. Next, to use the deep pipeline architecture, we broke down the functions into one-level logic operations that can be executed within one clock cycle. Finally, we mapped the functions on to the physical circuits using pre-designed SFQ standard cells. The 22 unit switch consists of 59 logic gates and needs about 600 Josephson junctions without gate interconnections. We tested the gate-level circuit by logic simulation and found that it operates correctly at a throughput of 40 GHz.

We have designed a demultiplexer (DMUX) with a simple structure, high-speed operation circuits and large bias margins. By using a binary-tree architecture and clock-driven circuits, multi-channel DMUXs can be constructed easily from the same elemental circuits, i.e., 1-to-2 DMUX, consisting of a T-FF and a 1-to-2 switch. By applying cell-level optimization and Monte Carlo simulation, bias margins and operation frequency of the circuits were enlarged. Logical operations of the 1-to-2 DMUX and a multi-channel DMUX, e.g., a 1-to-4 DMUX were experimentally confirmed. It was also confirmed that the large margins, 33% of the DMUX (1-to-2 switch) was kept up regardless the degree of integration, and that the 1-to-2 DMUX can operate up to 46 GHz by using measure of average voltages across Josephson junctions.

We report recent achievements in interfacing Josephson junction circuits with superconductor MicroStrip Lines (MSLs). We studied basic techniques that allow satisfactory operation of different devices with MSLs. Successful operation of the interfaces with very low error rate has been demonstrated even at the MSL resonant frequency.

We have designed the Half Adder (HA) circuit and the Carry Save Serial Adder (CSSA) circuit based on pipeline architecture. Our HA has the structure of a two-stage pipeline and consists of 160 Josephson Junctions (JJs). Our CSSA has the structure of a four-stage pipeline with a feedback loop and consists of 360 JJs. These circuits were fabricated by the NEC standard process. There are two issues which should be considered in the design. One is parameter spreads generated by the fabrication process and the other is leakage currents between the gates. We have introduced a parameter optimization method to deal with the parameter spreads. We have also inserted three stages of JTLs to reduce leakage currents. We have experimentally confirmed the correct operations of these circuits. The obtained bias margins were 33.1% for the HA and 24.6% for the CSSA.

We are developing a superconducting analog-to-digital converter (ADC) as a readout for high-resolution X-ray detectors based on a superconducting tunnel junction (STJ). The ADC has a sensitive front end which consists of a DC superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A signal current is digitized by this front end without using any preamplifiers. A single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulse train whose frequency is proportional to the input current is launched by the front end, and integrated by a digital counter. The counter has a 10-bit resolution, and the integrated value is scanned and transferred to room-temperature processing modules with a frequency of 40 MHz. In this paper, the design of the ADC is described, and the preliminary results of the ADC performance test are shown. The performance of the STJ accompanied by the ADC is discussed in terms of the X-ray energy resolution.

We have fabricated a prototype of interface devices between SFQ and CMOS circuits using HTS quasi-particle injection devices. By the injection of quasi-particles, the bridge area becomes resistive and high voltage appears at the drain electrode. As a test of device operation, we applied the signal of a function generator to the gate electrode and observed that the device successfully repeated on/off operation. We also succeeded in explaining the device characteristics by considering the thermal effects.

This article describes simulation study on SQUID applications for Single-Flux-Quantum(SFQ) Logic Circuits. Here, a SQUID is compatible to a Quantum Flux Parametorn (QFP). Several new circuits based on a SQUID are investigated. A cascaded SQUID is proposed with the signal amplitude in the same order of an SFQ. An SFQ-pulse driving circuits with the new SQUID are successfully simulated. An SFQ trap which catches SFQs is newly proposed. Focusing on a circulating current of a segment in a Josephson transmission line (JTL), an SFQ-pulse is non-destructively detected by a SQUID. A conventional SQUID inserted in a JTL operates as a gate which controls SFQ-pulse transmission through it. Compatibility of SQUIDs and SFQ circuits is demonstrated.

We have proposed a top-down design methodology for the RSFQ logic circuits based on the Binary Decision Diagram (BDD). In order to show the effectiveness of the methodology, we have designed a small RSFQ microprocessor based on simple architecture. We have compared the performance of the 8-bit RSFQ microprocessor with its CMOS version. It was found that the RSFQ system is superior in terms of the operating speed though it requires extremely large area. We have also implemented and tested a 1-bit ALU that is one of the important components of the microprocessor and confirmed its correct operation.

SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) Photoscanning is an analytical technique intended for the noninvasive evaluation of semiconductor wafers and device structures. This method is based on the detection of the magnetic field of photocurrents locally induced in the sample under investigation by a focused laser beam. The magnetic field is monitored by means of a sensitive SQUID magnetometer while scanning the sample surface with the laser beam. Doping inhomogeneities in electronic grade silicon, grain boundaries in solar silicon, and defects in photovoltaic device structures have been analyzed.

We describe here development of a multichannel high-T_c SQUID magnetometer system for measurement of cardiac magnetic fields, aiming at future application of diagnosis of heart diseases. Two types of direct-coupled SQUID magnetometers were fabricated and used: single pickup coil magnetometer having flux dams to suppress the shielding current that would induce flux penetration and the consequent low-frequency noise, and double pickup coil magnetometer having no grain boundary junctions and flux dams on the pickup coil. The superconducting film of both the magnetometers had holes and slots, leaving 5 µm-wide strip lines, to suppress trapping and penetration of magnetic flux vortices in environmental fields. We studied different schemes of active shielding to reinforce the efficiency of field-attenuation of magnetically shielded room (MSR). A feedback-type compensation using a normal detection coil wound around the wall of MSR and a selective cancellation of 50 Hz noise by means of adaptive filter were developed. Such combination of passive and active shielding, based on the use of simple MSR, would be suitable in a practical low-cost magnetometer system for clinical MCG examination. We fabricated a liquid nitrogen cryostat that could contain up to 20 magnetometer-capsules at 4 cm separation in a flat bottom, with a distance of 16 mm between the air and liquid nitrogen. The cryostat was set in a gantry, which had rotational, vertical and horizontal freedoms of movement, in a moderate-shielding MSR that was combined with the developed active shielding. Measurements of MCG were performed for normal subject using eight magnetometers operating simultaneously.

We have fabricated and characterized two types of high-Tc planar SQUID gradiometers having different line width of pickup loops. The device worked in flux-locked loop (FLL) operation even in laboratory environment without any shielding. A magnetic field gradient resolution of a parallel-type device in a lightly shielded room was about 0.5 pT/cmHz^1/2 at 1 kHz and 2 pT/cmHz^1/2 at 1 Hz. The device was possible to record magnetocardiograms in a shielded room. QRS-complex peaks of about 10 pT _PP/4mm are clearly observed. For a mesh-type device, the increase of low frequency noise in the open laboratory environment was less than that for a parallel-type.

Thermally activated magnetic-flux entry into a pickup coil through a flux dam in high T_c superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is studied. The behavior of this thermal activation is analyzed in terms of the circulating current flowing in the pickup coil. It is shown that the thermal activation can be prevented when the circulating current becomes much below a critical current of the flux dam. It is also shown that we need a long waiting time in order to realize this situation since the circulating current logarithmically decays with time in the case of the thermal activation. The relationship between the thermal activation and the circulating current is qualitatively confirmed with the experiment. We also show a method in order to forcibly reduce the circulating current instead of the thermal activation. In this case, we can prevent the thermal activation without the long waiting time.

Lymph-node detection system using a high T_c SQUID and ultra-small particles was proposed. Pseudo lymph nodes containing small iron particles were made and the magnetic signal was measured. The SQUID signal was proportional to the weight of the iron in the fluid. At the distance of 20 mm, the detectable minimum weight of the iron was 40 µg. We demonstrated that the possibility of the application of the system to the human body.

In this paper, we review the progress in BiSrCaCuO-2212 Intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) by summarizing our recent results in fabrication and high frequency experiments. Using a double-side fabrication process, a well defined number of intrinsic Josephson junctions in a well defined geometry can be fabricated. The junctions in the stack are quite homogeneous, and the power distribution of external irradiation among the junctions is even. Shapiro steps are clearly observed up to 2.5 THz, and the general condition for the occurrence of Shapiro steps at frequency f_rf is that it should be much greater than the plasma frequency f_pl. Under certain conditions the Shapiro steps are zero-crossing, making some applications possible, such as quantum voltage standard etc.

The measurement sensitivity of microwave surface resistance, R_s, of high temperature superconducting (HTS) thin films using half-wavelength microstrip resonator with copper and HTS ground plane is analyzed for fundamental and higher order modes of the resonator. The estimated sensitivity of R_s-measurement is at least an order of magnitude greater at fundamental resonant frequency compared to when measured using higher order harmonic modes.

A stabilized local oscillator is one of the key components for any radar system, especially for a Doppler radar in detecting slowly moving targets. Based on hybrid semiconductor/superconductor circuitry, the HTS local oscillator produces stable, low noise performance superior to that achieved with conventional technology. The device combines a high Q HTS sapphire cavity resonator (f=5.6 GHz) with a C-band low noise GsAs HEMT amplifier. The phase noise of the oscillator, measured by a HP 3048A noise measurement system, is -134 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset at 77 K.

We developed a compact rf receiver subsystem using a high-T_c superconducting sharp skirt band-pass filter with a center frequency tuning function. A 24-pole hairpin-type 2 GHz microstrip-line filter was fabricated with YBa₂Cu₃O_y thin films deposited on a LaAlO₃ substrate. Attenuation characteristics were more than 30 dB at 1 MHz apart from both the lower and the higher pass-band edges. For center frequency tuning, a 1-mm-thick dielectric sapphire plate was stacked on the filter, and the filtering characteristics were tuned by moving the plate using a piezoelectric bending actuator. The range of the center frequency modulation was more than 12 MHz with no degradation of the low-loss and sharp-skirt characteristics.

We propose the new and highly accurate design theory of the high T_c superconducting (HTS) miniaturized coplanar waveguide (CPW) bandpass filters (BPFs) with highly packed meanderlines. BPFs are designed using the external quality factor (Q_e) and coupling constant (k) (Q-k method). These parameters are estimated from the transmission coefficient obtained by the 2.5-dimensional electromagnetic field simulator. Moreover, the Q-k method is compared with the J-b method (designed using admittance inverter and susceptance slope parameter) presented previously; in this way we confirmed that the Q-k method has higher accuracy than the J-b method. We realized the design of a the highly packed meanderline CPW BPF (5 pole, center frequency = 2 GHz, fractional band width = 15 MHz, ripple = 0.1 dB) in a 3.5 mm 8 mm substrate.

A new structure of a low-loss high temperature superconducting (HTS) filter is proposed by using quarter-wavelength coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators. A 4-pole Chebyshev band-pass filter with the center frequency 5.0 GHz and the 0.01 dB-ripple fractional bandwidth 3.2% is designed based on the theory of direct-coupled resonator filters using K- and J-inverters. This filter is fabricated by using a high-T_c superconductive YBCO film deposited on a MgO dielectric substrate. The frequency response of the filter measured at 60 K agrees very well with the theoretical one. The insertion loss is 0.22 dB. The insertion loss of this filter is the lowest in HTS-CPW filters presented so far.

A coaxial cable measurement system applicable up to 60 GHz in the cryogenic temperature is developed by using V-connectors. In this system, the fine location of coupling loop antennas can be adjusted by three-dimensional mechanical stages in the low temperature region. In order to verify usefulness of this system, the temperature dependence of surface resistance (R_s) of Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) films was measured at 30 GHz by the two-dielectric resonator method using TE₀₁₁- and TE₀₁₃- mode sapphire rod resonators. The measured result of R_s was 0.5 mΩ at 30 GHz and 20 K, which was 1/40, compared with those of copper plates.

Previous device models for Hot Electron Bolometers (HEB) apply a lumped element approach to calculate the small signal parameters. In this work, large signal parameters are calculated using a nonlinear one-dimensional heat balance equation including critical current effects. Small signal equivalents are obtained by solving a linearized heat balance for the small signal beat term in the HEB. In this model, the absorbed bias power density is treated as a profile along the HEB bridge and the electrothermal feedback acts differently on different parts of the bridge. This model predicts more realistic conversion gain figures being about 10 dB lower than in previous ones.

We report our studies on electrical current pulse perturbation of superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x (YBCO) epitaxial thin films. When a current pulse is applied to a YBCO microbridge, a voltage develops across it that depends on the amplitude of the input current pulse. For a total current (input current pulse plus the dc bias) that is lower than the critical current I_c, an inductive voltage response is observed. When the total current exceeds I_c, a resistive response is generated and is observed after a certain delay time t_d. The origin of the resistive response was analyzed using the Geier and Schon model, which is based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation. Our experimental samples consisted of 200-nm-thick epitaxial YBCO films, patterned into coplanar-strip (CPS) transmission lines, containing either two-microbridge or single-microbridge test structures. For the two-microbridge samples, a train of 100-fs-duration optical pulses was used to excite the larger microbridge and generate 2-ps-duration electrical pulses, which were then applied to perturb the smaller microbridge, which was independently biased in the superconducting state. In this case, an electro-optic sampling system was used to measure the YBCO kinetic-inductive voltage responses with the picosecond time resolution. For the single-microbridge structures, an electronic pulse generator was employed to supply the input current pulse, and a 14-GHz sampling oscilloscope was used to monitor the microbridge responses. The latter signals were in very good agreement with the model of Geier and Schon, assuming that the quasiparticle dynamics process that resulted from the nanosecond-wide current excitation was bolometric and followed the phonon escape time τ_es.

The non-linear quasiparticle tunnel current flowing in a distributed superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) transmission line resonator has been exploited in a low-noise heterodyne fixed-tuned waveguide receiver in the 600-700 GHz band. The mixer employs two half-wave or full-wave distributed SIS long junctions connected in series. These devices have been fabricated with optical lithography. At 654 GHz, a Y-factor of 1.79 has been recorded, corresponding to a double-side-band (DSB) receiver noise temperature of 198 K at an IF of 3 GHz.

Pulse tube cryocoolers receive considerable attention due to their intrinsically higher durability and lower vibrations than other regenerative coolers such as Gifford-McMahon or Stirling cycle coolers. This paper describes basic function and classification of the pulse tube cryocoolers from the viewpoint of electronic applications.

We have developed and demonstrated a novel technique for electrical inspection and electrical failure analysis, which can detect open, high-resistance, and short circuits without the need for electrical contact with the outside of the LSI chip or the board on which the LSI chip is mounted. The basic idea of the technique is the detection of the magnetic field produced by OBIC (optical beam induced current) or photo current. A DC-SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometer is used to detect the magnetic field. This scanning laser-SQUID microscopy ("laser-SQUID" for short) has a spatial resolution of about 1.3 µm. It can be used to distinguish defective chips before bonding pad patterning or after bonding without pin-selection. It can localize any defective site in the chip to within a few square microns.

We have designed a torque magnetometer using a 60-kG split-type superconducting magnet. A balance torque compensates the torque acting on a sample in the magnetic field. The feedback circuit for a sample direction consists of an optical position sensor, a moving coil, and a PID controller. We measured the coil current to know a sample torque. The whole torque machinery is directly rotated by a stepping motor of angular resolution 0.0036. An advantage of the torque apparatus is a wide dynamic range up to 1000 dyncm. The sample temperature can be controlled between 4 K and 300 K.

We have developed a new torque magnetometer on the basis of a 4-K refrigerator. The system temperature can be lowered down to 1.5 K by pumping liquefied helium from a top loading sample space. A piezoresistor bridge on a Si cantilever is used to detect torque acting on a sample. A transverse magnetic field is supplied by a variable-field permanent magnet up to 10 kG. We find that a sensitivity of our torque magnetometer is Δ τ 10^-10 Nm.

We fabricated ramp-edge junctions with barriers by modifying surface and integrating ground-planes. The fabricated junctions had current-voltage characteristics consistent with the resistive shunted-junction model. We also obtained a 1-sigma spread in the critical current of 7.9% for 100 junctions at 4.2 K. The ground-plane reduced the sheet inductance of a stripline by a factor of 3. The quality of the ground-plane was improved by using an anneal in oxygen atmosphere after fabrication. The sheet inductance of a counter-electrode with a ground-plane was 1.0 pH per square at 4.2 K.

High-Tc superconductors convincingly showed that these materials are essentially natural arrays of Josephson junctions formed in atomic scale. In this paper, in-plane aligned a-axis-oriented YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) thin films were successfully grown on LaSrGaO₄(LSGO) (100) substrates which were cleaned by ion-beam. Voltage jumps with hysteresis implying intrinsic Josephson effects are observed in c-axis direction. This result suggest that it is possible to achieve planar intrinsic Josephson devices which have applications in high frequency electronics, such as voltage standards, Josephson masers and so on.

We have fabricated ramp-type Josephson junctions in trilayer structures. A bilayer of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x (YBCO)/CeO₂ was deposited on a SrTiO₃ (100) substrate. Then, circle patterns with a diameter of 2 µm were etched on the bilayer surface using standard photolithography process. During the Ar ion milling with an incident angle of 45 degrees to the bilayer surface, the sample was rotated. This process led to upside-down conical formations. After the ramp-edge surface was modified, another YBCO film was deposited for the top electrode. The junctions showed the I-V characteristics between resistively shunted junction and flux-flow types.

We report some leading research on superconducting devices in Taiwan. Research includes thin films, Josephson junctions, junction arrays and resonators etc. In device physics characteristics of Josephson junctions, junction array, and SQUIDs are reported. Applications of SQUIDs include: (1) studies of brain activities (magnetoencenphalogram) using multichannel low T_c SQUIDs system; (2) detection of weak magnetic fields (magnetocardiogragh, etc. ) using high-T_c SQUIDs; (3) nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of deep flaws using high-T_c SQUIDs. Research projects in the future in our group are briefly reported.

By depositing insulating layers on oxide superconducting films, the films generally deteriorate. When an insulating multilayer of CeO₂(50 )SrTiO₃(200 ) was grown on 800--thick EuBa₂Cu₃O _7-δ (EBCO) films with T_ce's (T_c endpoint) above 90 K, the films exhibited T_ce's of about 40 K. Recovery of the deteriorated films was carried out by two treatment methods. A pure oxygen treatment, where the deteriorated films were annealed at a temperature (T_sa) of 550C and an oxygen pressure (P_O2) of 100 kPa for 60 min, and then naturally cooled, restored the films with T_ce's of about 60 K. An activated oxygen plasma (AOP) treatment, where the deteriorated films were exposed to oxygen plasma at a T_sa=550C for 40 min and subsequently oxygen gas was introduced into the chamber up to 2 kPa and then naturally cooled, restored the films with T_ce's of about 84 K. The AOP-treated film was recovered with a cooling rate of less than 6.8C/min, and exhibited T_ce of 90 K. The AOP-treated film took in oxygen more effectively than the pure oxygen-treated film with the cooling process at less than P_O2=100 kPa.

We have fabricated a novel type of intrinsic Josephson junctions with superconducting Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y (Bi-2212)/YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x(YBCO) bilayer thin films deposited on MgO(100) substrates. We used the 4th harmonics of a Nd:YAG pulsed laser ablation. Furthermore, we studied the transport properties of a 25 µm 25 µm Bi-2212/YBCO mesa-type junction. The zero resistance temperature was around 50 K. The current-voltage characteristics showed flux-flow-like behavior and a supercurrent of about 2 mA at 4.2 K. Shapiro steps were observed when microwave was irradiated to the mesa junction. These Shapiro steps are attributed to the Josephson junction formed at the interface between the Bi-2212 and YBCO layers in the mesa structure and not to the intrinsic Josephson junctions in the Bi-2212 layer or the micro-grains within the films.

We report the measurements on the ramp-edge type Josephson and quasiparticle tunnel junctions with the different interface angle geometry using high-Tc YBa₂Cu₃O_7-y (YBCO) electrodes. The YBCO/I/Ag tunnel junctions with different crystal-interface boundary angles are fabricated for the investigation of zero bias conductance peak. The angle dependent zero bias conductance peak typical to a d_x²-y²-wave superconductor is observable. For Josephson junctions, YBCO ramp-edge junctions with different ab-plane electrodes relatively rotated by 45are fabricated using a CeO₂ seed-layer technique. The temperature dependence of the maximum Josephson current for YBCO/PBCO/YBCO junctions (PBCO: PrBa₂Cu₃O_7-y) exhibits angle-dependent behavior, qualitatively different from the Ambegaokar-Baratoff prediction. Under microwave irradiation of 9 GHz, the Shapiro steps appear at integer and/or half integer multiples of the voltage satisfying Josephson voltage-frequency relation, whose behavior depends on the sample angle geometry. The results are reasonably interpreted by the d_x²-y²-wave theory by taking the zero energy state into account.

We report our studies on the spectral sensitivity of superconducting NbN thin-film single-photon detectors (SPD's) capable of GHz counting rates of visible and near-infrared photons. In particular, it has been shown that a NbN SPD is sensitive to 1.55-µm wavelength radiation and can be used for quantum communication. Our SPD's exhibit experimentally measured intrinsic quantum efficiencies from 20% at 800 nm up to 1% at 1.55-µm wavelength. The devices demonstrate picosecond response time (<100 ps, limited by our readout system) and negligibly low dark counts. Spectral dependencies of photon counting of continuous-wave, 0.4-µm to 3.5-µm radiation, and 0.63-µm, 1.33-µm, and 1.55-µm laser-pulsed radiations are presented for the single-stripe-type and meander-type devices.

We present analytical and numerical results on the flux-quantum transitions in a three-junction superconducting quantum interference device (3J-SQUID) controlled by two RF signals. The 3J-SQUID has two superconducting loops, and the RF signals are magnetically coupled to the loops. Flux-quantum transitions in the 3J-SQUID loops can be controlled by utilizing the phase difference of the two RF signals. Under proper conditions, we can obtain a situation where one flux quantum passes through the 3J-SQUID per one cycle of the RF signals without DC current biasing, which results in a zero-crossing step on the current-voltage characteristics. In this paper, we first explain the operation principle by using a quantum state diagram of a 3J-SQUID. Next, we numerically simulate RF-induced transitions of the quantum states. A zero-crossing step on the current-voltage characteristics is demonstrated. We also investigate dependence of zero-crossing steps upon parameters of the 3J-SQUID and RF signals.

The size dependent properties of the intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_y single crystal mesas in the external magnetic field are studied. The mesas of (1-140) µm long with 7-29 junctions were fabricated and their current-voltage characteristics were measured in external magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO₂ layers up to 0.16 T. In zero magnetic field, multiple resistive branches with large hysteresis were observed in the current-voltage characteristics for the fabricated mesas. Almost identical critical currents were also observed for all the junctions in each mesa. With applied magnetic field, I_c of the longer mesas showed a complex magnetic field dependence as compared to that of the short mesas (of about 1 µm in length). It was observed that the lower critical magnetic field of the junctions decreased and approached a constant value with increasing number of junctions and also with increasing length of the junctions. Similar magnetic behavior was obtained by numerical simulations based on coupled sine-Gordon equations for such stacked junctions.

It is of considerable interest to study the vortex behavior of a multiply connected superconductor for potential applications of vortex devices. Our sample is made of a type-I superconductor Pb and a capillary plate. The nominal sizes are 1-µm in hole diameter and 1.8-µm in lattice pitch. The microholes form triangular lattice while a superconducting network consists of a honeycomb lattice. When each hole accommodates a single vortex ₀, an applied magnetic field becomes a nominal matching field (7.83 G). We measure the magnetization curve of sample by means of a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometer in the accurate small fields on the order of Gauss. We find a sharp magnetization peak at 8.2 G at temperatures near the critical temperature T_c.

Femtosecond optical pulses were irradiated into a YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ strip-line of 400 µm in width in order to investigate the relationship between the laser beam power profile and the distribution of the optically generated magnetic fluxes. To homogenize the current distribution in the strip-line, a half of the strip-line was patterned into the ordered array structure of holes of 2 µm in diameter at an interval of 4 µm, and several experimental conditions were examined by changing the focal size of the pulsed laser beam at the sample surface. As a result, it was found out that the generated optical magnetic fluxes strongly depend on the power profile of the femtosecond optical pulses, and showed a possibility for the application to a laser beam profiler and the other optical devices.

The FDTD method needs Fourier analysis to obtain the fields of a single frequency. Furthermore, the frequency spectra of the fields used in the FDTD method ordinarily have wide bands, and all the fields in FDTD are treated as real numbers. Therefore, if the permittivity ε and the permeability µ of the medium depend on frequency, or if the surface impedance used for the surface impedance boundary condition (SIBC) depends on the frequency, the FDTD method becomes very complicated because of convolution integral. In the electromagnetic theory, we usually assume that the fields oscillate sinusoidally, and that the fields and ε and µ are complex numbers. The benefit of introduction of the complex numbers is very extensive. As we do in the usual electromagnetic theory, the authors assume that the fields in FDTD oscillate sinusoidally. In the proposed FDTD, the fields, ε, µ and the surface impedances for SIBC are all treated as the complex numbers. The proposed FDTD method can remove the above-mentioned weak points of the conventional FDTD method.

An optical detection system using a DFB laser with a very small aperture is theoretically proposed. The threshold gain level in DFB laser is sensitively varied with combined reflections by the facet and the corrugation as well as with the optical injection reflected at the surface of the optical disk. Variation of the threshold gain level is counted as the voltage change on electrodes of the laser. It is found that sensitivity of the optical detection with a well-designed DFB laser becomes six times larger than that with conventional Fabry-Perot ones. Field distribution around the small aperture is analyzed taking into account both the near-field and the radiation field. Numerical data on the voltage change are given as examples of the detection system.

A new method is proposed for determining the parasitic extrinsic resistances of MESFETs and HEMTs from the measured S-parameters under active bias. The proposed method is based on the fact that the difference between drain resistance (R_d) and source resistance (R_s) can be found from the measured S-parameters under zero bias condition. It is possible to define the new internal device including intrinsic device and three extrinsic resistances by eliminating the parasitic imaginary terms. Three resistances can be calculated easily via the presented explicit three equations, which are induced from the fact that 1) the real parts of Y_int,11 and Y_int,12 of intrinsic Y-parameters are very small or almost zero, 2) the transformation relations between S-, Z-, and Y-matrices. The modelled S-parameters calculated by the obtained resistances and all the other equivalent circuit parameters are in good agreement with the measured S-parameters up to 40 GHz.

This paper describes the circuit design procedure of the zero-current soft switching (ZCS) high frequency inverter for induction heating uses. Its output power can be regulated from its maximum to minimum by the instantaneous current vector control scheme using phase shift control between switching units at a fixed frequency. In addition, it can be safely operated since no extraordinarily high voltage or current results even at a short-circuit period at the load. Also, its overall efficiency reaches 90%. The detailed load and frequency characteristics of the inverter are elucidated by the computer-aided simulation. Then, the circuit design procedure is presented, and practical numerical examples are obtained according to this procedure which reveal that the inverter is highly practical and the design procedure is effective. The trial inverters yielding 2 kW or 4 kW were actually prepared. The observed values of the voltages and currents of the inverters were found to be in good agreement with the calculated ones. These facts certificate the validity of the proposed design procedure.

A novel base station for microwave radio-on-fiber systems is proposed. It consists of an L-band electroabsorption modulator and a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode. We show it is applicable for bias-free operation and full-duplex transmission and demonstrate 100-Mbit/s bidirectional data transmission in the 5-GHz band.

A charge pump circuit suitable for positive high voltage generators at sub-1.5 V range is presented. The proposed heap-pump circuit provides a high voltage generator having not only high pumping efficiency by eliminating threshold voltage drop but also simplest single phase clock scheme.