Abstract

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is a promising technology for the construction of quantum circuits with or without memory. In this article, we propose that the matching unit of the content-addressable memory (CAM) cell be developed utilising a multi-layered XNOR gate that is based on electron interactions. The proposed QCA cell can reduce the required area by at least 15% and by as much as 92% when compared to the existing circuits. Furthermore, when the circuit is expanded to include QCA-CAM, it can improve performance by more than 15%. In addition, the cost-effectiveness of the cell as the size of the circuit increases is shown.