Cellular-Automaton Circuits Using Single-Electron-Tunneling Junctions

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Abstract
We propose cellular automaton circuits that use single-electron-tunneling circuits (SET-CA). The unit cell consists of four intrinsic semiconductor islands and four single-electron-tunneling junctions. The dielectric constant of the intrinsic semiconductor is much larger than that of the junction insulator. The unit cell is charged with two single electrons. Polarization states of the two single electrons in the unit cell can be used to encode a binary signal. We designed various binary logic SET-CA circuits, and analyzed their operation by computer simulation. It was demonstrated that the SET-CA circuits having appropriate arrangements of the cells can perform correct signal transmission and elemental logic operations such as NOT, NAND, and NOR.