Superconducting Quantum Electronics

With the surprising discovery of superconductivity at temperatures above 100 K, this field was not only brought into the public eye, but also stimulated research in universities, scientific institutions and industry, thus continuing the fascinating development which began with the discovery of the Josephson effect in the sixties. Cryoelectronics has become a special branch of cryophysics and cryotechnics and today plays a prominent role whenever high resolution and precision measurements are required. Motivated by this development, seven years ago scientists working in cryoelectronics in the Federal Republic of Germany felt the necessity for regular meetings allowing a free exchange of ideas and results achieved. Seminars under the title of "Kryoelektronische Bauelemente" were held for the first time at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig in 1982 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walther MeiBner, a pioneer in superconductivity. Since then, meetings have been held every year at different venues in Germany. It is now felt that the status of this field necessitates a review of the results of the past, a description of the current state of the art, and a discussion of future perspectives. This book, entitled SUPERCONDUCTING QUANTUM ELECTRONICS is a collection of invited lectures and contributions which will inform the reader on the most interesting problems involving fundamentals, sensitive detectors and precision metrology being studied by different groups.