Logic-in-memory cell enabling binary and ternary Boolean logics

In computing systems, processing and memory units have been integrated into logic-in-memory (LiM) to enhance the computational efficiency and performance. LiM has been attempted to perform not only binary but also ternary logic functions, which reduces computing complexity. Herein, we demonstrate a binary and ternary LiM (BT-LiM) cell with eight triple-gated (TG) feedback field-effect transistors (FBFETs) reconfigured into n- or p-channel modes. The TG FBFETs exhibit symmetrical latch-up voltages and an on-current ratio of 1.02 between the n- and p-channel modes, which indicates a high potential for reconfigurable logic applications. The BT-LiM cell can perform YES, NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XNOR, and XOR logic functions in a single cell because of these reconfigurable characteristics. Further, binary and ternary logic functions are realized in the cell without a programming stage, and the cell maintains the results of the logic functions under zero-bias conditions. This study achieves multifunctional LiM that can operate all binary and ternary Boolean logics.