US Patent 7602207 - Quantum dot cellular automata

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7602207.html

Quantum dot cellular automata is a proposed nanoelectronic circuit architecture in which regular arrays of 2x2 quantum dot cells are used to transfer and process information. This approach avoids the problem of current leakage due to electron tunneling as the scale size of electronic devices are reduced. This patent from The Lutherian University Association teaches a configuration to facilitate the flow of binary signals for crossed quantum dot cellular wires. Claim 1 reads:

1. A quantum-dot cellular automata device, comprising:

a first line of normal cells controlled by a first clock;

a second line of normal cells arranged substantially parallel to said first line of normal cells and controlled by said first clock; and

a third line of normal cells substantially orthogonal to said first and second lines of normal cells and connected to said first line of normal cells at a first common cell and to said second line of normal cells at a second common cell, said third line of normal cells having a first neighbor region located adjacent to said first common cell and controlled by a second clock and a second neighbor region located adjacent to said second common cell controlled by said second clock.