This thesis aims at establishing novel signal processing architectures for single-electron devices.
The present trend in improving the performance of silicon LSIs has been primarily as a result of the continuous scaling of CMOS devices. The need to scale transistors has led to improvement of fabrication technologies. With the advamced LSI fabrication technologies, research on fabrication of minute nano scale structures (devices) has attracted a lot of attention. Such devices include nano wires, quantum nano dots and single-electron devices.
Single-electron devices utilize quantum-mechanical effects to control transport of electrons at the single level. Thus single-electron devices inherently operate with minimum low power dissipation. Additionally, owing to the minute physical sizes of single-electron devices, they are considered as potential devices in implementing parallel-based information paradigms that would require high device densities.
Single-electron devices operate on different principles as compared to the conventional MOSFET devices. Therefore to employ them in signal processing systems, there in need to establish new circuit architecture frame works that fully utilize their properties. This research aims at exploiting both dynamical and structural properties of single-electron devices toward establishing LSI platforms for nano devices.
This research starts with investigating non-linear characteristics of coupled single-electron devices. Single-electron devices portray interesting non-linear dynamics: a single-electron device shows relaxation oscillations, while a double-oscillator system (two single-electron oscillators coupled through a capacitor) have attractors of oscillation that are independent of initial node voltage conditions. A quadruple oscillator system (two capacitively coupled double-oscillator systems) show multi periodic oscillations. Furthermore, by coupling single-electron devices, one can control the flow of tunneling events within the device network.
By combining the above non-linear dynamics with the structural properties, we proposed a two-dimensional photon position detecting circuit, and evaluated its performance.Secondly, by obtaining hints from neuronal systems, we proposed two bio-inspired LSI circuits: an edge detection circuit and a motion detector circuit. The thesis also discusses the implications of device fabrication mismatches and environmental noises in fabricating the two bio-inspired circuits. Instead of getting rid of such noises, we propose a novel method where such noises are actively utilized to improve the performance of LSI circuits.
学術論文
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Neuro-morphic circuit architectures employing temporal noises and device fluctuations to improve signal-to-noise ratio in a single-electron pulse-density modulator," International Journal of Unconventional Computing, vol. 7, no. 1-2, pp. 53-64 (2011).
Kikombo A.K., Tabe M., and Amemiya Y., "Photon position sensor consisting of single-electron circuits," Nanotechnology, vol. 20, no. 40, pp. 405209/1-7 (2009).
Kikombo A.K., Schmid A., Asai T., Leblebici Y., and Amemiya Y., "A bio-inspired image processor for edge detection with single-electron circuits," Journal of Signal Processing, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 133-144 (2009).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "An elementary neuro-morphic circuit for visual motion detection with single-electron devices based on correlation neural networks," Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 89-95 (2009).
Kikombo A.K., Hirose T., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Non-linear phenomena in electronic systems consisting of coupled single-electron oscillators," Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 100-107 (2008).
Kikombo A.K., Oya T., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Discrete dynamical systems consisting of single-electron circuits," International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. 3613-3617 (2007).
書籍／チャプター
Kikombo A.K., "Neuromophic LSI Architectures consisting of single-electron devices -- Edge detection and extraction with single-electron circuits --," Vision Sensors and Edge Detection, Sciyo (2011).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Exploiting temporal noises and device fluctuations in enhancing fidelity of pulse-density modulator consisting of single-electron neural circuits," Neural Information Processing, Leung C.-S., Lee M., and Chan J.H., Eds., Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 5864, pp. 384-391, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg (2009).
招待講演／セミナー
Kikombo A.K. and Asai T., "Neuro-morphic circuit architectures employing temporal noises and device fluctuations to enhance signal-to-noise ratio in pulse-density modulation," Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Natural Computing, pp. 37-46, Himeji International Exchange Center, Himeji, Japan (Sep. 23-25, 2009).
Kikombo A.K., "Circuit architectures for Beyond CMOS electronic devices: Learning from biological systems toward creating robust electronic systems with fault-prone building blocks," Faculty Seminar in National Institute of Standards and Technology, Quantum Processes and Metrology Group, Maryland, U.S.A. (Jun. 22, 2009).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Exploiting temporal noises and device fluctuations in enhancing fidelity of pulse-density modulator consisting of single-electron neural circuits," Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Neural Information Processing, pp. 384-391, Bangkok, Thailand (Dec. 1-5, 2009).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Pulse-density modulation with an ensemble of single-electron circuits employing neuronal heterogeneity to achieve high temporal resolution," Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Nano-Networks, pp. 51-56, Luzern, Switzerland (Oct. 18-20, 2009).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., Oya T., Schmid A., Leblebici Y., and Amemiya Y., "A pulse-density modulation circuit exhibiting noise shaping with single-electron neurons," Proceedings of the 2009 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, pp. 1600-1605, Atlanta, U.S.A. (Jun. 14-19, 2009).
Kikombo A.K., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "A neuromorphic circuit for motion detection with single-electron devices based on correlation neural networks," The 2008 IEEE Silicon Nanoelectronics Workshop, #P1-31, Honolulu, U.S.A. (Jun. 15-16, 2008).
Kikombo A.K., Schmid A., Asai T., Leblebici Y., and Amemiya Y., "Implementation of early vision model for edge extraction with single-slsecton devices," Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems, p. 125, Boston, U.S.A. (May 14-17, 2008).
Kikombo A.K., Schmid A., Asai T., Leblebici Y., and Amemiya Y., "Toward a single-electron image processor for edge detection based on the inner retina model," Proceedings of the 2008 RISP International Workshop on Nonlinear Circuits and Signal Processing, pp. 267-270, Gold Coast, Australia (Mar. 6-8, 2008).
Kikombo A.K., Schmid A., Leblebici Y., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "A bio-inspired image processor for edge detection with single-electron circuits," 2007 International Semiconductor Device Research Symposium, #TA3-04, Maryland, U.S.A. (Dec. 12-14, 2007).
Kikombo A.K., Hirose T., Asai T., and Amemiya Y., "Multi-valued logic circuits consisting of single-electron devices," Proceedings of the 2007 Silicon Nanoelectronics Workshop, pp. 81-82, Kyoto, Japan (Jun. 10-11, 2007).
