Scalable Digital Spin Logic Devices

可扩展数字自旋逻辑器件

• 批准号: 1231855
• 负责人: Ian Appelbaum
• 金额: $ 36万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-10-01 至 2017-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1231855&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scalable; Digital; Spin; Logic; Devices

This project will combine expertise of PI in spin transport and of Co-PI in multiferroic materials & devices to develop a new logic paradigm capable of circumventing the fundamental limitations of charged-based circuits. The team will exploit the interactions between electron spin and solid-state magnetism in a scalable architecture which avoids the shortcomings relevant to electronic logic circuit operation. Non-equilibrium spin (injected into a nonmagnetic, spin-conserving channel material from single-domain ferromagnetic bits) can couple to other magnetic bits through spin torque and exchange force. The actuation of magnetization switching and therefore logic processing, is enabled by effective fields induced by interfacial magnetostrictive strain from multiferroic and piezoelectric material heterostructures in a virtually dissipation-free way. These concepts of materials, coupling, and actuation are natural themes which guide the research tasks and will lead toward realization of a technology capable of satisfying the five fundamental requirements for viable computing systems: non-linearity, gain, concatenability, feedback elimination, and a complete set of Boolean operations. The Intellectual Merit of the proposed research is that it directly addresses the fundamental scientific challenges that must be overcome to realize an all-spin logic device technology. Silicon and germanium will be studied as model semiconductor spin-conserving channel materials. The spin torque and exchange coupling strengths at the interface between ferromagnet and channel material will be measured. Piezoelectric voltage-mediated control over magnetic switching barriers will be achieved, and switching of a magnetic bit using non-equilibrium spins in a neighboring non-magnetic channel material will be demonstrated for the first time. The result will be a detailed understanding of the necessary conditions for using the effective magnetic field generated by voltage-controlled magnetostriction to effect rapid magnetization switching with minimal forcing by non-equilibrium spins and minimal energy dissipation. The Broader Impact of the proposed activity is in the potential of this new logic processing paradigm to continue performance trends (established through decades of scaling) in charge-based electronic systems with significant economic, environmental, and societal ramifications. The advantages afforded by spintronics devices of enabling lower-power, instant-on electronics allow increased device portability and are especially important in light of today?s increasing energy costs and its environmental damage. Additional Broader Impact is achieved through training graduate students in diverse aspects of science and engineering including semiconductor device design, processing, measurement, and spintronics; and activities designed to broaden understanding by elementary and high-school students, parents, and the general public of the historical importance of scaling in the semiconductor electronics industry and the challenges faced as scaling reaches its end in the next decade.

这个项目将结合PI在自旋传输和Co-PI在多铁性材料和器件方面的专业知识，开发一种新的逻辑范例，能够绕过带电电路的基本限制。该团队将在一个可扩展的架构中利用电子自旋和固态磁性之间的相互作用，从而避免与电子逻辑电路操作相关的缺点。非平衡自旋(从单域铁磁比特注入到非磁性、自旋守恒的沟道材料中)可以通过自旋扭矩和交换力耦合到其他磁性比特。多铁性和压电材料异质结界面磁致伸缩应变所产生的有效磁场能够以一种几乎无耗散的方式实现磁化转换的驱动和逻辑处理。这些材料、耦合和驱动的概念是指导研究任务的自然主题，并将导致实现一种能够满足可行计算系统的五个基本要求的技术：非线性、增益、级联、消除反馈和一套完整的布尔运算。这项拟议研究的智力价值在于，它直接解决了实现全自旋逻辑器件技术必须克服的基本科学挑战。硅和锗将被作为模型半导体自旋守恒沟道材料进行研究。将测量铁磁和沟道材料界面处的自旋扭矩和交换耦合强度。将实现对磁开关势垒的压电式电压调节控制，并将首次演示利用邻近的非磁通道材料中的非平衡自旋来切换磁比特。其结果将是对利用电压控制磁致伸缩产生的有效磁场以最小的非平衡自旋强迫和最小的能量耗散来实现快速磁化转换的必要条件的详细理解。拟议活动的更广泛影响在于，这一新的逻辑处理范例有可能在基于电荷的电子系统中延续性能趋势(通过数十年的扩展建立)，并产生重大的经济、环境和社会影响。自旋电子器件提供的优势是能够实现低功耗、即开即用的电子设备，从而提高了设备的便携性，鉴于当今S不断增加的能源成本及其对环境的破坏，这一优势尤为重要。通过在科学和工程的不同方面培训研究生，包括半导体器件设计、加工、测量和自旋电子学，以及旨在扩大中小学生、家长和普通公众对半导体电子行业规模的历史重要性以及随着规模在下一个十年结束时面临的挑战的理解的活动，实现了更广泛的影响。