No Arabic abstract
Nanomagnetic logic is an energy efficient computing architecture that relies on the dipole field coupling of neighboring magnets to transmit and process binary information. In this architecture, nanomagnet chains act as local interconnects. To assess the merits of this technology, the speed and reliability of magnetic signal transmission along these chains must be experimentally determined. In this work, time-resolved pump-probe x-ray photo-emission electron microscopy is used to observe magnetic signal transmission along a chain of nanomagnets. We resolve successive error-free switching events in a single nanomagnet chain at speeds on the order of 100 ps per nanomagnet, consistent with predictions based on micromagnetic modeling. Errors which disrupt transmission are also observed. We discuss the nature of these errors, and approaches for achieving reliable operation.
The idea of nanomagnetic Boolean logic was advanced more than two decades ago. It envisaged the use of nanomagnets with two stable magnetization orientations as the primitive binary switch for implementing logic gates and ultimately combinational/sequential circuits. Enthusiastic proclamations of how nanomagnetic logic will eclipse traditional (transistor-based) logic circuits proliferated the applied physics literature. Two decades later there is not a single viable nanomagnetic logic chip in sight, let alone one that is a commercial success. In this perspective article, I offer my reasons on why this has come to pass. I present a realistic and tempered vision of nanomagnetic logic, pointing out many misconceptions about this paradigm, flaws in some proposals that appeared in the literature, shortcomings, and likely pitfalls that might stymie progress in this field.
Energy efficient nanomagnetic logic (NML) computing architectures propagate and process binary information by relying on dipolar field coupling to reorient closely-spaced nanoscale magnets. Signal propagation in nanomagnet chains of various sizes, shapes, and magnetic orientations has been previously characterized by static magnetic imaging experiments with low-speed adiabatic operation; however the mechanisms which determine the final state and their reproducibility over millions of cycles in high-speed operation (sub-ns time scale) have yet to be experimentally investigated. Monitoring NML operation at its ultimate intrinsic speed reveals features undetectable by conventional static imaging including individual nanomagnetic switching events and systematic error nucleation during signal propagation. Here, we present a new study of NML operation in a high speed regime at fast repetition rates. We perform direct imaging of digital signal propagation in permalloy nanomagnet chains with varying degrees of shape-engineered biaxial anisotropy using full-field magnetic soft x-ray transmission microscopy after applying single nanosecond magnetic field pulses. Further, we use time-resolved magnetic photo-emission electron microscopy to evaluate the sub-nanosecond dipolar coupling signal propagation dynamics in optimized chains with 100 ps time resolution as they are cycled with nanosecond field pulses at a rate of 3 MHz. An intrinsic switching time of 100 ps per magnet is observed. These experiments, and accompanying macro-spin and micromagnetic simulations, reveal the underlying physics of NML architectures repetitively operated on nanosecond timescales and identify relevant engineering parameters to optimize performance and reliability.
We present a design for a switchable nanomagnetic atom mirror formed by an array of 180{deg} domain walls confined within Ni80Fe20 planar nanowires. A simple analytical model is developed which allows the magnetic field produced by the domain wall array to be calculated. This model is then used to optimize the geometry of the nanowires so as to maximize the reflectivity of the atom mirror. We then describe the fabrication of a nanowire array and characterize its magnetic behavior using magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometry, scanning Hall probe microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, demonstrating how the mobility of the domain walls allow the atom mirror to be switched on and off in a manner which would be impossible for conventional designs. Finally, we model the reflection of 87Rb atoms from the atom mirrors surface, showing that our design is well suited for investigating interactions between domain walls and cold atoms.
Strongly-interacting nanomagnetic arrays are crucial across an ever-growing suite of technologies. Spanning neuromorphic computing, control over superconducting vortices and reconfigurable magnonics, the utility and appeal of these arrays lies in their vast range of distinct, stable magnetisation states. Different states exhibit different functional behaviours, making precise, reconfigurable state control an essential cornerstone of such systems. However, few existing methodologies may reverse an arbitrary array element, and even fewer may do so under electrical control, vital for device integration. We demonstrate selective, reconfigurable magnetic reversal of ferromagnetic nanoislands via current-driven motion of a transverse domain wall in an adjacent nanowire. The reversal technique operates under all-electrical control with no reliance on external magnetic fields, rendering it highly suitable for device integration across a host of magnonic, spintronic and neuromorphic logic architectures. Here, the reversal technique is leveraged to realise two fully solid-state reconfigurable magnonic crystals, offering magnonic gating, filtering, transistor-like switching and peak-shifting without reliance on global magnetic fields.
In 1961, R. Landauer proposed the principle that logical irreversibility is associated with physical irreversibility and further theorized that the erasure of information is fundamentally a dissipative process. Landauer posited that a fundamental energy cost is incurred by the erasure of information contained in the memory of a computation device. His theory states that to erase one binary bit of information from a physical memory element in contact with a heat bath at a given temperature, at least kT ln(2) of heat must be dissipated from the memory into the environment, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature. Although this connection between information theory and thermodynamics has proven to be very useful for establishing boundary limits for physical processes, Landauer principle has been a subject of some debate. Despite the theoretical controversy and fundamental importance of Landauer erasure in information technology, this phenomenon has not been experimentally explored using any practical physical implementation for digital information. Here, we report an investigation of the thermodynamic limits of the memory erasure process using nanoscale magnetic memory bits, by far the most ubiquitous digital storage technology today. Through sensitive, temperature dependent magnetometry measurements, we observed that the amount of dissipated energy is consistent with the Landauer limit during an adiabatic erasure process in nanoscale, single domain magnetic thin film islands. This result confirms the connection between information thermodynamics and physical systems and also provides a foundation for the development of practical information processing technologies that approach the fundamental limit of energy dissipation.