Integrated logic circuits using single-atom transistors
Open Access
- 23 August 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 108 (34), 13969-13972
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1109935108
Abstract
Scaling down the size of computing circuits is about to reach the limitations imposed by the discrete atomic structure of matter. Reducing the power requirements and thereby dissipation of integrated circuits is also essential. New paradigms are needed to sustain the rate of progress that society has become used to. Single-atom transistors, SATs, cascaded in a circuit are proposed as a promising route that is compatible with existing technology. We demonstrate the use of quantum degrees of freedom to perform logic operations in a complementary-metal–oxide–semiconductor device. Each SAT performs multilevel logic by electrically addressing the electronic states of a dopant atom. A single electron transistor decodes the physical multivalued output into the conventional binary output. A robust scalable circuit of two concatenated full adders is reported, where by utilizing charge and quantum degrees of freedom, the functionality of the transistor is pushed far beyond that of a simple switch.Keywords
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