An efficient design of edge-triggered synchronous memory element using quantum dot cellular automata with optimized energy dissipation

Quantum dot cellular automata (QCA) constitute an emergent nanoscale-based digital nanoelectronics technology with comprehensive applications in nanocomputing based on the small nanometer size of such circuits and their ultralow power consumption, fast operation, and high clock frequency in comparison with transistor-based complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. A novel design for edge-triggered synchronous J-K flip-flop (FF) and D (data or delay) flip-flop memory elements based on QCA cells with quantum wires is presented herein. The proposed design has fewer QCA cells and lower latency and area and uses the coplanar crossover method to overcome the complexity of multilayer quantum wire crossing. The design is analyzed to determine the average output polarization (AOP) of the edge-triggered synchronous D-FF and JK-FF at different temperature levels and the optimized energy dissipation. The layout design and computational simulation of the circuit are carried out using QCADesigner V. 2.0.3 software, while the energy dissipation is analyzed using the QCADesigner-E V. 2.2 tool.