Nematic bits and universal logic gates
Name
sciadv.abp8371.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.2 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
f18a56f51c764faa4e5a2134988850ca
Author(s)
Kos, Žiga
Dunkel, Jörn
Date Issued
August 19, 2022
Journal
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Kos, Žiga and Dunkel, Jörn. 2022. "Nematic bits and universal logic gates." Science Advances, 8 (33).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Liquid crystals (LCs) can host robust topological defect structures that essentially determine their optical and elastic properties. Although recent experimental progress enables precise control over nematic LC defects, their practical potential for information storage and processing has yet to be explored. Here, we introduce the concept of nematic bits (nbits) by exploiting a quaternionic mapping from LC defects to the Poincaré-Bloch sphere. Through theory and simulations, we demonstrate how single-nbit operations can be implemented using electric fields, to construct LC analogs of Pauli, Hadamard, and other elementary logic gates. Using nematoelastic interactions, we show how four-nbit configurations can realize universal classical NOR and NAND gates. Last, we demonstrate the implementation of generalized logical functions that take values on the Poincaré-Bloch sphere. These results open a route toward the implementation of classical digital and nonclassical continuous computation strategies in topological soft matter systems.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abp8371
