Smart universal multiple-valued logic gates by transferring single electrons

This paper proposes smart universal multiple-valued (MV) logic gates by transferring single electrons (SEs). The logic gates are based on MOSFET based SE turnstiles that can accurately transfer SEs with high speed at high temperature. The number of electrons transferred per cycle by the SE turnstile is a quantized function of its gate voltage, and this characteristic is fully exploited to compactly finish MV logic operations. First, we build arbitrary MV literal gates by using pairs of SE turnstiles. Then, we propose universal MV logic-to-value conversion gates and MV analog-digital conversion circuits. We propose a SPICE model to describe the behavior of the MOSFET based SE turnstile. We simulate the performances of the proposed gates. The MV logic gates have small number of transistors and low power dissipations.

National Natural Science Foundation of China 90607007 special funds for Major State Basic Research Project 2006CB921201 This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 90607007 and in part by the special funds for Major State Basic Research Project 2006CB921201 of China. The review of this paper was arranged by Associate Editor K. Likharev.