ABSTRACT
This chapter presents unique single-electron circuits (SEC) that mimic the behaviors of slime molds. It focuses on emergent SECs and SE devices as the emerging nanoscaled devices, which consist mainly of tunnel junctions that operate using individual electrons and have quantum effects such as Coulomb blockade. The chapter describes the structure of basic SECs for circuits, that is, single-electron oscillators, single-electron boxes, and single-electron memories. The reverse-searching function, the most important behavior for slime molds to find nutrients, is defined as the result of the slime mold following the attractant secreted along the path between the found food and the starting point. Test results demonstrated that rough mimicking is applicable not only to SEC devices but also to various other nanoscale devices. A designed circuit must be able to perform both “propagation” and “contraction” operations in order to be used as a slime-mold-inspired SEC.
