An introduction to the operation of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is presented, along with recent experimental results. QCA is a transistorless computation paradigm that addresses the issues of device density and interconnection. The basic building blocks of the QCA architecture, such as AND, OR, and NOT are presented. The experimental device is a four-dot QCA cell with two electrometers. The dots are metal islands, which are coupled by capacitors and tunnel junctions. An improved design of the cell is presented in which all four dots of the cell are coupled by tunnel junctions. A noninvasive electrometer is presented which improves the sensitivity and linearity of dot potential measurements. The operation of this basic cell is confirmed by an externally controlled polarization change of the cell.

1.
C. S.
Lent
,
P. D.
Tougaw
,
W.
Porod
, and
G. H.
Bernstein
,
Nanotechnology
4
,
49
(
1993
).
2.
C. S.
Lent
and
P. D.
Tougaw
,
Proc. IEEE
85
,
541
(
1997
).
3.
C. S.
Lent
and
P. D.
Tougaw
,
J. Appl. Phys.
74
,
6227
(
1993
).
4.
P. D.
Tougaw
and
C. S.
Lent
,
J. Appl. Phys.
75
,
1818
(
1994
).
5.
T. J. Fountain and C. S. Lent (unpublished).
6.
P. D.
Tougaw
and
C. S.
Lent
,
J. Appl. Phys.
80
,
4722
(
1996
).
7.
T. A.
Fulton
and
G. H.
Dolan
,
Phys. Rev. Lett.
59
,
109
(
1987
).
8.
A. O.
Orlov
,
I.
Amlani
,
G. H.
Bernstein
,
C. S.
Lent
, and
G. L.
Snider
,
Science
277
,
928
(
1997
).
9.
I.
Amlani
,
A. O.
Orlov
,
G. L.
Snider
,
C. S.
Lent
, and
G. H.
Bernstein
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
72
,
2179
(
1998
).
10.
G. L.
Snider
,
A. O.
Orlov
,
I.
Amlani
,
G. H.
Bernstein
,
C. S.
Lent
,
J. L.
Merz
, and
W.
Porod
,
Semicond. Sci. Technol.
13
,
130
(
1998
).
11.
I.
Amlani
,
A. O.
Orlov
,
G. L.
Snider
,
C. S.
Lent
, and
G. H.
Bernstein
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
71
,
1730
(
1997
).
12.
H.
Pothier
,
P.
Lafarge
,
P. F.
Orfila
,
C.
Urbina
,
D.
Esteve
, and
M. H.
Devoret
,
Physica B
169
,
573
(
1991
).
13.
P. Lafarge, Ph.D. thesis, University of Paris, 1993.
14.
I.
Amlani
,
A. O.
Orlov
,
G. L.
Snider
, and
G. H.
Bernstein
,
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B
15
,
2832
(
1997
).
15.
P.
Lafarge
,
H.
Pothier
,
E. R.
Williams
,
D.
Esteve
,
C.
Urbina
, and
M. H.
Devoret
,
Z. Phys. B
85
,
327
(
1991
).
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.