Modeling Protein-Based 3-D Memory in SPICE

Abstract

The Simulation Program For Integrated Circuit Engineering (SPICE) has been used successfully for many years to aid semiconductor circuit design. SPICE represents circuits as networks of basic devices with interacting parameters (current, voltage, etc.), and then models these interactions as systems of partial differential equations. Biological systems are roughly similar, consisting of networks of interacting biochemical cycles whose resulting chemical concentrations can also be modeled by partial differential equations. In the present work, we use SPICE to model an optically-accessed, protein-based, 3-D memory. Modeling the protein's photochemical effects in SPICE allows us to include, within the same model, the supporting electronics and optics needed to properly cycle the memory and interface it to the outside world.