Reconfigurable Boolean Logic using Magnetic Single-Electron Transistors

We propose a novel hybrid single-electron device for reprogrammable low-power logic operations, the magnetic single-electron transistor (MSET). The device consists of an aluminium single-electron transistors with a GaMnAs magnetic back-gate. Changing between different logic gate functions is realized by reorienting the magnetic moments of the magnetic layer which induce a voltage shift on the Coulomb blockade oscillations of the MSET. We show that we can arbitrarily reprogram the function of the device from an n-type SET for in-plane magnetization of the GaMnAs layer to p-type SET for out-of-plane magnetization orientation. Moreover, we demonstrate a set of reprogrammable Boolean gates and its logical complement at the single device level. Finally, we propose two sets of reconfigurable binary gates using combinations of two MSETs in a pull-down network

A passive GHz frequency-division multiplexer/demultiplexer based on anisotropic magnon transport in magnetic nanosheets

The emerging field of magnonics employs spin waves and their quanta, magnons, to implement wave-based computing on the micro- and nanoscale. Multi-frequency magnon networks allow for parallel data processing within single logic elements whereas this is not the case with conventional transistor-based electronic logic. However, a lack of experimentally proven solutions to efficiently combine and separate magnons of different frequencies has impeded the intensive use of this concept. In this Letter, we demonstrate the experimental realization of a spin-wave demultiplexer enabling frequency-dependent separation of GHz signals. The device is based on two-dimensional magnon transport in the form of spin-wave beams in unpatterned magnetic nanosheets. The intrinsic frequency-dependence of the beam direction is exploited to realize a passive functioning obviating an external control and additional power consumption. This approach paves the way to magnonic multiplexing circuits enabling simultaneous information transport and processing.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Scalability of spin FPGA: A Reconfigurable Architecture based on spin MOSFET

Scalability of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using spin MOSFET (spin FPGA) with magnetocurrent (MC) ratio in the range of 100% to 1000% is discussed for the first time. Area and speed of million-gate spin FPGA are numerically benchmarked with CMOS FPGA for 22nm, 32nm and 45nm technologies including 20% transistor size variation. We show that area is reduced and speed is increased in spin FPGA owing to the nonvolatile memory function of spin MOSFET.Comment: 3 pages, 7 figure

Electron Spin for Classical Information Processing: A Brief Survey of Spin-Based Logic Devices, Gates and Circuits

In electronics, information has been traditionally stored, processed and communicated using an electron's charge. This paradigm is increasingly turning out to be energy-inefficient, because movement of charge within an information-processing device invariably causes current flow and an associated dissipation. Replacing charge with the "spin" of an electron to encode information may eliminate much of this dissipation and lead to more energy-efficient "green electronics". This realization has spurred significant research in spintronic devices and circuits where spin either directly acts as the physical variable for hosting information or augments the role of charge. In this review article, we discuss and elucidate some of these ideas, and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. Many of them can potentially reduce energy dissipation significantly, but unfortunately are error-prone and unreliable. Moreover, there are serious obstacles to their technological implementation that may be difficult to overcome in the near term. This review addresses three constructs: (1) single devices or binary switches that can be constituents of Boolean logic gates for digital information processing, (2) complete gates that are capable of performing specific Boolean logic operations, and (3) combinational circuits or architectures (equivalent to many gates working in unison) that are capable of performing universal computation.Comment: Topical Revie

Spin Wave Magnetic NanoFabric: A New Approach to Spin-based Logic Circuitry

We propose and describe a magnetic NanoFabric which provides a route to building reconfigurable spin-based logic circuits compatible with conventional electron-based devices. A distinctive feature of the proposed NanoFabric is that a bit of information is encoded into the phase of the spin wave signal. It makes possible to transmit information without the use of electric current and utilize wave interference for useful logic functionality. The basic elements include voltage-to-spin wave and wave-to-voltage converters, spin waveguides, a modulator, and a magnetoelectric cell. As an example of a magnetoelectric cell, we consider a two-phase piezoelectric-piezomagnetic system, where the spin wave signal modulation is due to the stress-induced anisotropy caused by the applied electric field. The performance of the basic elements is illustrated by experimental data and results of numerical modeling. The combination of the basic elements let us construct magnetic circuits for NOT and Majority logic gates. Logic gates AND, OR, NAND and NOR are shown to be constructed as the combination of NOT and a reconfigurable Majority gates. The examples of computational architectures such as Cellular Automata, Cellular Nonlinear Network and Field Programmable Gate Array are described. The main advantage of the proposed NanoFabric is in the ability to realize logic gates with less number of devices than it required for CMOS-based circuits. Potentially, the area of the elementary reconfigurable Majority gate can be scaled down to 0.1um2. The disadvantages and limitations of the proposed NanoFabric are discussed