cryotron

American  

[krahy-uh-tron] / ˈkraɪ əˌtrɒn /

noun

Electronics, Computers.

1. a cryogenic device that uses the principle that a varying magnetic field can cause the resistance of a superconducting element to change rapidly between its high normal and low superconductive values: used as a switch and as a computer-memory element.

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cryotron British  

/ ˈkraɪəˌtrɒn /

noun

1. a miniature switch working at the temperature of liquid helium and depending for its action on the production and destruction of superconducting properties in the conductor

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Etymology

Origin of cryotron

First recorded in 1955–60; cryo- + -tron

Example Sentences

At its centre is Dudley Buck, a gifted electrical engineer and US government agent whose prototype microchip, the Cryotron, was key to a covert scheme to create the first supercomputers.

From Nature

Beyond today's transistors, the Air Force's civilian scientists are working on an even tinier device called a Cryotron, which looks like a wire sliver with another wire coiled around it.

From Time Magazine Archive

Because a Cryotron duplicates many of the functions of both transistors and vacuum tubes, yet is so small that 40 will fit on a 3-in. pencil stub, scientists think they will some day be able to cram what is now a giant electric brain into a single cubic foot of space.

From Time Magazine Archive

I re-fed the emptied cryotron memory box of a robot discard with patterns to deal with anything it was likely to encounter in a destruction pile.

From Project Gutenberg

Some tapes had been prepared earlier, so it was possible to put everything in the cryotron box before Marie returned, as well as to attach the tiny contact that would reach out from the box until it reached its first external scrap of wire or metal.

From Project Gutenberg