title: Nanopatterned graphene quantum dots as building blocks for quantum cellular automata.
abstract: Quantum cellular automata (QCA) is an innovative approach that incorporates quantum entities in classical computation processes. Binary information is encoded in different charge states of the QCA cells and transmitted by the inter-cell Coulomb interaction. Despite the promise of QCA, however, it remains a challenge to identify suitable building blocks for the construction of QCA. Graphene has recently attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable electronic properties. The planar structure makes it feasible to pattern the whole device architecture in one sheet, compatible with the existing electronics technology. Here, we demonstrate theoretically a new QCA architecture built upon nanopatterned graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Using the tight-binding model, we determine the phenomenological cell parameters and cell-cell response functions of the GQD-QCA to characterize its performance. Furthermore, a GQD-QCA architecture is designed to demonstrate the functionalities of a fundamental majority gate. Our results show great potential in manufacturing high-density ultrafast QCA devices from a single nanopatterned graphene sheet.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Z F
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012666:Semiconductors
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D006108:Graphite