Unlocking Flexible Silicon Dangling Bond Logic Designs on Alternative Silicon Orientations

With the impending plateau of Moore’s Law, the search for novel computational paradigms has intensified. Silicon dangling bond (SiDB) logic emerges as a promising avenue in this quest, leveraging the quantum-dot-like properties of SiDBs and atomically precise fabrication techniques to realize logic functions at the nanometer scale. Advances in computer-aided design (CAD) tools specialized for SiDB logic exploration have also opened the door to novel logic research from the gate- to application-level. This paper introduces a lattice vector formulation for SiDB logic designs on alternative silicon lattice orientations, enabling the exploration of logic gates on arbitrary lattice orientations and addressing the limitations of previous SiDB logic research confined to the H-Si(100)-2x1 surface. A comprehensive workflow for designing standard tile libraries compatible with design automation frameworks is proposed, facilitating the scaling of SiDB layouts to large-scale systems implementation on multiple lattice orientations. We demonstrate the proposed lattice vector representation and the library design workflow through a case study on the H-Si(111)-1x1 surface, showcasing the first logic gates designed for this orientation. This advancement opens new avenues for SiDB logic research, enabling rigorous evaluations of various lattice orientations for future logic design studies and experimental investigations.

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