Proceedings Article | 16 May 2005
KEYWORDS: Gold, Molecules, Magnetism, Quantum computing, Silicon, Quantum dots, Proteins, Logic devices, Electrodes, Cobalt
Quantum logic gates (QLGs) or other logic systems are based on quantum-dots (QD) with a stringent requirement of size uniformity. The QD are widely known building units for QLGs. The size control of QD is a critical issue in quantum-dot fabrication. The work presented here offers a new method to develop quantum-dots using a bio-template, called ferritin, that ensures QD production in uniform size of nano-scale proportion. This technology is essential for NASA, DoD, and industrial nanotechnology applications such as: ultra-high density data storage, quantum electronic devices, biomedical nanorobots, molecular tagging, terahertz radiation sources, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), etc. The bio-template for uniform yield of QD is based on a ferritin protein that allows reconstitution of core material through the reduction and chelation processes. By either the magnetic or electrical property of reconstituted core materials, the QD can be used for logic gates which are fundamental building blocks for quantum computing. However, QLGs are in an incubation stage and still have many potential obstacles that need to be addressed, such as an error collection, a decoherence, and a hardware architecture. One of the biggest challenges for developing QLG is the requirement of ordered and uniform size of QD for arrays on a substrate with nanometer precision. The other methods known so far, such as self-assembled QD grown in the Stranski-Krastanov mode, are usually randomly organized. The QD development by bio-template includes the electrochemical/chemical reconstitution of ferritins with different core materials, such as iron, cobalt, manganese, platinum, and nickel. The other bio-template method used in our laboratory is dendrimers, precisely defined chemical structures. With ferritin-templated QD, we fabricated the heptagon-shaped patterned array via direct nano manipulation of the ferritin molecules with a tip of atomic force microscope (AFM). We also designed various nanofabrication methods of QD arrays using a wide range manipulation techniques. The precise control of the ferritin-templated QD for a patterned arrangement are offered by various methods, such as a site-specific immobilization of thiolated ferritins through local oxidation using the AFM tip, ferritin, arrays induced by gold nanoparticle manipulation, thiolated ferritin positioning by shaving method, etc. In the signal measurements, the current-voltage curve is obtained by measuring the current through the ferritin, between the tip and the substrate for potential sweeping or at constant potential. The measured resistance near zero bias was 1.8 teraohm for single holoferritin and 5.7 teraohm for single apoferritin, respectively.
