Operation of a 3D nano-electron cell for logic and memory

In this paper, by exploring the negative differential conductance (NDC) of a resonant interband tunneling diode (RITD), e.g. InAs/AsSb/GaSb, and the interaction between metallic nano-dots, we present and demonstrate a theoretical model of a novel bi-stable and 4-stable operation on the basis of the three-dimensional (3D) nano-electron cell which consists of metallic nano-dots forming into compact and two-dimension (2D) arrays on the surface of RITDs. We present a simplified circuit model without considering single-electron effects between metallic nano-dots, where the RITD is described by a simplified physics-based model. We investigate numerical results for this 3D nano-electron cell and their dependence on the relevant parameters. At last calculations based on Monte Carlo simulation considering single-electron effects between metallic nano-dots demonstrate that our simplified model is comprehensive enough to describe this system in nature. The calculated results demonstrate it is promising for future nano-logic and nano-memory applications.