Sub $k_B T$ micro-electromechanical irreversible logic gate

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that an irreversible OR logic gate built with a micro electromechanical cantilever can operate with energy below the traditional thermodynamic limit by controlling operation speed and friction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel micro electromechanical logic gate that defies the expected energy dissipation limits of irreversible logic operations.

Findings

Energy dissipation below $k_B T$ achieved

Slow operation and friction control are key

Experimental validation of low-energy irreversible logic

Abstract

In modern computers, computation is performed by assembling together sets of logic gates. Popular gates like AND, OR, XOR, processing two logic inputs and yielding one logic output, are often addressed as irreversible logic gates where the sole knowledge of the output logic value, is not sufficient to infer the logic value of the two inputs. Such gates are usually believed to be bounded to dissipate a finite minimum amount of energy determined by the input-output information difference. Here we show that this is not necessarily the case, by presenting an experiment where a OR logic gate, realized with a micro electromechanical cantilever, is operated with energy well below the expected limit, provided the operation is slow enough and frictional phenomena are properly addressed.