Molecular Architectures for QCA-inspired  Boolean Networks

Project coordinator : Prof. Rosaria Rinaldi
CNR NANO – Lecce (ITALY)

Concept and objective

MolArNet  aims at demonstrating a feasible molecular  scale architecture for post-Moore nano-electronics  as a possible route towards unconventional models of computation.
The final goal is a first demonstration of feasibility for molecular Quantum  Cellular Automata (QCA) elementary devices, working on both  technological and design levels.
In QCA  no switches (transistors)  and hence no current  flow are required. Computation is still binary and Boolean, but the bit is represented through the charge configuration in a basic cell, which, in the classical case, is an arrangement of four quantum dots, joined  by  tunneling  paths  and  charged  with  two  mobile,  opposite-spin  electrons  and  a compensating fixed positive charge.
The two different polarizations are represented in figure:

Within MolArNet, some of the key problems of molecular QCA will be tackled in such a way as to prove their feasibility and trace precise future research directions. In particular, we will show:

• Proof-of-concepts of molecular QCA cells.
• Proof-of-concepts of read-out devices at the few-cell scale.
• Proof-of-concepts of fabrication of small molecular QCA devices.
• Theoretical investigation of the tested molecules as QCA cells, with quantitative     study of the critical  engineering  issues  and  the  impact  of  molecular  non-idealities  on  the  computing paradigm.