Information Technology Reference
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2nm
Fig. 1.
Left: schematic representation of a square QCA cell with 2 electrons (blackened
circles) positioned on the diagonal configuration. Right: STM map of an actual ASiQD
structure with 4 dots in a square pattern as an embodiment of the QCA cell on the left.
Electron population is predominant on the same diagonal as indicated on the schematic
on the left.
structures with uniquely homogeneous and reproducible characteristics can be
in principle fabricated. A further advantage lies in the fact that these dots are
entirely made of and upon silicon, enabling compatibility with silicon CMOS
circuitry. This allows the merging of established and new technologies, greatly
easing the path to deployment.
Challenges in the precise positioning of single silicon atom dots previously
limited creation of more than a 4-atom ensemble. New developments have enabled
patterns with hundreds of atoms to be fabricated with error rates close to
those required for functioning computation circuit elements. A path to further
improvements appears to be in hand.
Information storage, transfer and computation without use of conventional
electrical current, with several orders lower power consumption than CMOS
appear within reach. Prospects for extremely small size and weight appear good,
too, as are those for extreme speed. Existing true 2-dimensional circuit layouts
indicate a great reduction in the need for multilayer interconnects. The all-silicon
aspect of this approach leads to a natural CMOS compatibility and therefore an
early entry point via a hybrid CMOS-ASiQD technology. Room temperature
as opposed to cryo operation is very attractive. The materials stability of the
system up to
200
ⓦ
C is comparable to conventional electronics. Furthermore,
the possibility of deployment in an analog mode broadens the appeal and power
of the approach. A natural ability to merge with Si-based sensor circuitry is
desirable too. As discussed below, potential applications in quantum information
are also very appealing.
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2 Preparing and Visualizing Silicon Surface Dangling
Bonds
A silicon dangling bond, DB, exists at a silicon atom that is under-coordinated,
that is where a silicon atom has only 3, rather the regular 4 bonding partners. In
this discussion we will focus on the DB on the hydrogen terminated (100) face of
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