Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata: A Clocked Architecture for High-Speed, Energy-Efficient Molecular Computing

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is a non-transistorbased, classical computing paradigm. QCA devices may be implemented using mixed-valence molecules, and logic circuits are formed by laying out ordered arrays of QCA molecules on a substrate. Molecules are locally coupled via the Coulomb field. The molecular circuits can be clocked using an applied perpendicular electric field. A fully-quantum model of fielddriven electron transfer (ET) is used to determine the ET rate for specific QCA candidate molecules. The diferrocenyl acetylene (DFA) molecule is taken as an example QCA molecule, and this model indicates DFA may support classical computation at speeds well beyond the GHz range.