Straintronics: Digital and Analog Electronics With Strain-Switched Nanomagnets
Straintronics: Digital and Analog Electronics With Strain-Switched Nanomagnets
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DOI：
10.1109/ojnano.2020.3011637
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发表时间：
2020-01-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
寻找一种比晶体管更节能的二进制开关引发了许多想法，其中值得注意的是利用具有两种稳定磁化方向的纳米磁体来编码二进制位0和1的概念。通过电产生的机械应变在这两种磁化方向之间切换纳米磁体。切换所需的电压极小，能量耗散约为几到几十阿焦耳。我们的团队已经展示了基于这项技术的逻辑门和存储器。虽然它们确实耗能极少，但不幸的是，它们受到高得无法接受的切换错误概率的困扰，这阻碍了它们在大多数布尔逻辑类型中的应用。幸运的是，它们仍然可用于对切换错误更宽容的应用中，例如概率计算、模拟算术电路、置信网络、人工神经元、受限玻尔兹曼机、图像处理以及其他许多器件协同作用引发计算或信号处理功能且单个或少数器件的故障并非至关重要的应用。这些超节能的应变切换纳米磁体也可用于非计算设备，比如性能优于自旋扭矩纳米振荡器的微波振荡器。这篇简短的综述对这个令人兴奋的新兴领域进行了介绍。
The search for a binary switch that is more energy-efficient than a transistor has led to many ideas, notable among which is the notion of using a nanomagnet with two stable magnetization orientations that will encode the binary bits 0 and 1. The nanomagnet is switched between them with electrically generated mechanical strain. A tiny amount of voltage is required for switching, with energy dissipation on the order of a few to few tens of aJ. Logic gates and memory, predicated on this technology, have been demonstrated in our group. While they indeed dissipate very little energy, they are unfortunately plagued by unacceptably high switching error probability that hinders their application in most types of Boolean logic. Fortunately, they can still be used in applications that are more forgiving of switching errors, e.g. probabilistic computing, analog arithmetic circuits, belief networks, artificial neurons, restricted Boltzmann machines, image processing, and others where the collective activity of many devices acting cooperatively elicit the computing or signal processing function and the failure of a single or few devices does not matter critically. These ultra-energy-efficient strain-switched nanomagnets can also be used for non-computing devices such as microwave oscillators that perform better than spin-torque-nano-oscillators. This short review provides an introduction to this exciting burgeoning field.