Design rules for Quantum-dot Cellular Automata

As a promising alternative to CMOS technology, QCA circuit design has been extensively studied in recent years. However, although a concrete set of design rules exist for integrated circuit design, little attention has been paid to the design rules necessary for efficient QCA circuit design. This paper compiles a set of important QCA design rules which include layout design rules, timing rules and some special rules for QCA technology to ensure QCA circuits function correctly and reliably. These rules will promote the development of practical and efficient QCA systems. A GF(2
^m
) multiplier design is proposed as a case study to illustrate these design rules.