QUANTUM EFFECTS AND BIT ERRORS IN MESOSCOPIC LOGIC AND MEMORY-CIRCUITS

Bistability in well known circuits employing devices with nonlinear current-voltage characteristics is shown to be a classical concept which can be modified by quantum mechanical effects. The classically stable states "0" and "1" are shown to correspond to a single stable quantum mechanical state and a metastable state. Bit error rates associated with metastable state lifetimes are estimated for circuits employing quantum well devices and found to be appreciable in the mesoscopic regime (feature sizes ≲0.2 μm).