Piezotronic devices and integrated systems

Novel technology which can provide new solutions and enable augmented capabilities to CMOS based technology is highly desired. Piezotronic nanodevices and integrated systems exhibit potential in achieving these application goals. By combining laser interference lithography and low temperature hydrothermal method, an effective approach for ordered growth of vertically aligned ZnO NWs array with high-throughput and low-cost at wafer-scale has been developed, without using catalyst and with a superior control over orientation, location/density and morphology of as-synthesized ZnO NWs. Beyond the materials synthesis, by utilizing the gating effect produced by the piezopotential in a ZnO NW under externally applied deformation, strain-gated transistors (SGTs) and universal logic operations such as NAND, NOR, XOR gates have been demonstrated for performing piezotronic logic operations for the first time. In addition, the first piezoelectrically-modulated resistive switching device based on piezotronic ZnO NWs has also been presented, through which the write/read access of the memory cell is programmed via electromechanical modulation and the logic levels of the strain applied on the memory cell can be recorded and read out for the first time. Furthermore, the first and by far the largest 3D array integration of vertical NW piezotronic transistors circuitry as active pixel-addressable pressure-sensor matrix for tactile imaging has been demonstrated, paving innovative routes towards industrial-scale integration of NW piezotronic devices for sensing, micro/nano-systems and human-electronics interfacing. The presented concepts and results in this thesis exhibit the potential for implementing novel nanoelectromechanical devices and integrating with MEMS/NEMS technology to achieve augmented functionalities to state-of-the-art CMOS technology such as active interfacing between machines and human/ambient as well as micro/nano-systems capable of intelligent and self-sufficient multi-dimensional operations.Ph.D

Implementation of multi-CLB designs using quantum-dot cellular automata

CMOS scaling is currently facing a technological barrier. Novel technologies are being proposed to keep up with the need for computation power and speed. One of the proposed ideas is the quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) technology. QCA uses quantum mechanical effects in the device at the molecular scale. QCA systems have the potential for low power, high density, and regularity. This thesis studies QCA devices and uses those devices to build a simple field programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA is a combination of multiple configure logical blocks (CLBs) tiled together. Most previous work on this area has focused on fixed logic and programmable interconnect. In contrast, the work at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has designed and simulated a configurable logic block (CLB) based on look-up tables (LUTs). This thesis presents a simple FPGA that consists of multiple copies of the CLB created by the RIT group. The FPGA is configured to emulate a ripple-carry adder and a bit-serial multiplier. The latency and throughput of both functions are analyzed. We employ a multilevel approach to design specification and simulation. QCADesigner software is used for layout and simulation of an individual CLB. For the FPGA, the high-level HDLQ Verilog library is used. This hybrid approach provides a high degree of confidence in reasonable simulation time

자성 디스크 배열 내 결합된 자기 소용돌이의 동적 거동 연구

학위논문(박사)--서울대학교 대학원 :공과대학 재료공학부,2020. 2. 김상국.자기 소용돌이는 수 마이크로미터 크기 혹은 그 이하의 강자성 구조체에서 안정적으로 형성되는 특이한 배열 구조를 말한다. 자기 소용돌이는 박막면에 수직한 수십 나노미터 크기의 자기 소용돌이 핵과, 그 주위의 평면 내 회전하는 모양으로 배열된 스핀들로 구성된다. 자기 소용돌이에 외부 자기장 혹은 전류 등을 인가하면 자기 소용돌이 핵이 회전운동을 하는 성질이 있다. 이러한 자기 소용돌이는 핵의 두 가지 자화방향과 주변에 배열된 스핀들의 두 가지 회전방향의 조합으로 네 개의 동일한 기저 에너지 준위를 가질 수 있고, 열적으로 매우 안정하기 때문에 비휘발성 정보저장 소자로 응용 가능하다. 또한 여러 개의 결합된 자기 소용돌이 사이에서 나타나는 자기 소용돌이 핵의 집단적 회전운동은 새로운 신호전달의 매개체로 이용될 수 있어 정보처리 소자로의 응용성에 대한 연구가 진행되어왔다. 본 학위 논문에서는 미소자기 전산모사 및 실험을 이용하여 자기 소용돌이의 동적 거동과 자기 소용돌이 간의 동적 상호작용 연구에 초점을 두고있다. 자기 디스크 배열에서 자기 소용돌이 결합 모드, 자기 소용돌이 핵 반전 방법 및 자기 소용돌이 핵의 회전운동 신호 전달의 제어에 관한 연구가 주 내용이다. 이러한 자기 소용돌이의 동적 거동 제어 방법을 이용해 새로운 개념의 RS 래치 논리 소자, 시분할 및 주파수 분할 디멀티플렉서 소자를 제안하고 그 동작 특성을 연구하였다. 자기 소용돌이를 이용한 소자들은 비휘발성이며, 거의 무제한의 수명을 가지고, 에너지가 적게 드는 등 많은 장점을 가지고 있다. 또한 자기 소용돌이는 그 특성의 제어가 매우 용이해서 향후 개발될 스핀트로닉스 소자로 응용될 수 있는 가능성을 가지고 있다. 본 연구 결과는 차세대 스핀트로닉스 기술로서 자기 소용돌이에 기반한 논리 소자 및 정보 처리 장치의 구현 가능성을 보여준다.In the sub-micrometer-size ferromagnetic structure, the magnetic vortex is in a strongly stable ground state characterized by an in-plane curling magnetization around and an out-of-plane magnetization in the central region. The magnetic vortex is characterized by clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) curling in-plane magnetizations around a single vortex core in which region magnetizations are perpendicularly oriented either upward or downward. In isolated disks, applied external forces induce vortex excitations, among which a translational mode exists in which the vortex core gyrates around its equilibrium position at a characteristic eigenfrequency. Vortex-core switching can be accomplished with low power consumption when vortex gyrations are resonantly excited. Moreover, the gyration modes of individual vortex cores in a periodic array of patterned vortex-state disks are coupled with each other, thus yielding collectively coupled motions of the individual cores. On the basis of such novel dynamic characteristics, non-volatile memory and information processing devices using magnetic vortex have been proposed. This work focused on dynamic interaction between vortex-state ferromagnetic structures and its applications, utilizing micromagnetic simulations, analytical calculations, and experiments. The dynamic behaviors of vortex-gyration-coupled modes, vortex-core switching, and propagation of vortex-core gyration signal in magnetic-disk-network devices are investigated. Based on the combinations of the novel dynamic characteristics of vortices in dipolar-coupled disks, a new concept RS latch logic, time- and frequency-division demultiplexer device operations are explored. Magnetic vortex has many advantages such as non-volatility, almost unlimited endurance, and low power operation. Furthermore, a rich tunability of magnetic vortices makes them adoptable as future spintronics devices. This work can pave the way for possible implementation of logic gates and information processing devices based on coupled magnetic vortices.1. Introduction 1 2. Research Background 5 2.1. Magnetization dynamics and micromagnetics 5 2.1.1. Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation 5 2.1.2. Effective fields in the LLG equation 8 2.2. Vortices in magnetic microstructures and their dynamics 10 2.2.1. Vortex core gyration 15 2.2.2. Vortex core switching 18 2.2.3. Interaction between magnetic vortices 18 2.3. Experimental methods 20 2.3.1. Photo lithography 20 2.3.2. Electron beam lithography 20 2.3.3. Anisotropic magneto resistance in vortex 21 3. Vortex Core Switching by Propagation of a Gyration-Coupled Mode 23 3.1. Micromagnetic simulation conditions 23 3.2. Coupled modes of gyration for the two types of vortex-state configurations 26 3.3. Concept design of reset-set latch device 32 3.4. Magnitude of oscillating magnetic field and radius of disks dependent switching behavior 36 3.5. Reset-set latch logic operation 39 4. Control of Gyration Signal Propagation in Coupled Magnetic Vortices 43 4.1. Dynamics of the single and coupled disk array 43 4.2. Control of gyration signal propagation by in-plane bias field 50 4.3. Control of gyration signal propagation by vortex core switching 53 4.4. Concept design of time-division demultiplexer device and its operation 60 4.5. Concept design of frequency-division demultiplexer device and its operation 65 5. Electrical Measurement of the Gyrotropic Resonance of a Magnetic Vortex in Circular and Chopped Disks. 68 5.1. Sample fabrication 68 5.2. DC AMR measurement 73 5.3. AC AMR measurement by rectification technique 78 6. Summary 88 Bibliography 90 Publication List 100 Patent List 102 Presentations in Conferences 103Docto

STRAINTRONIC NANOMAGNETIC DEVICES FOR NON-BOOLEAN COMPUTING

Nanomagnetic devices have been projected as an alternative to transistor-based switching devices due to their non-volatility and potentially superior energy-efficiency. The energy efficiency is enhanced by the use of straintronics which involves the application of a voltage to a piezoelectric layer to generate a strain which is ultimately transferred to an elastically coupled magnetostrictive nanomaget, causing magnetization rotation. The low energy dissipation and non-volatility characteristics make straintronic nanomagnets very attractive for both Boolean and non-Boolean computing applications. There was relatively little research on straintronic switching in devices built with real nanomagnets that invariably have defects and imperfections, or their adaptation to non-Boolean computing, both of which have been studied in this work. Detailed studies of the effects of nanomagnet material fabrication defects and surface roughness variation (found in real nanomagnets) on the switching process and ultimately device performance of those switches have been performed theoretically. The results of these studies place the viability of straintronics logic (Boolean) and/or memory in question. With a view to analog computing and signal processing, analog spin wave based device operation has been evaluated in the presence of defects and it was found that defects impact their performance, which can be a major concern for the spin wave based device community. Additionally, the design challenge for low barrier nanomagnet which is the building block of binary stochastic neurons based probabilistic computing device in case of real nanomagnets has also been investigated. This study also cast some doubt on the efficacy of probabilistic computing devices. Fortunately, there are some non-Boolean applications based on the collective action of array of nanomagnets which are very forgiving of material defects. One example is image processing using dipole coupled nanomagnets which is studied here and it showed promising result for noise correction and edge enhancement of corrupted pixels in an image. Moreover, a single magneto tunnel junction based microwave oscillator was proposed for the first time and theoretical simulations showed that it is capable of better performance compared to traditional microwave oscillators. The experimental part of this work dealt with spin wave modes excited by surface acoustic waves, studied with time resolved magneto optic Kerr effect (TR-MOKE). New hybrid spin wave modes were observed for the first time. An experiment was carried out to emulate simulated annealing in a system of dipole coupled magnetostrictive nanomagnets where strain served as the simulated annealing agent. This was a promising outcome and it is the first demonstration of the hardware variant of simulated annealing of a many body system based on magnetostrictive nanomagnets. Finally, a giant spin Hall effect actuated surface acoustic wave antenna was demonstrated experimentally. This is the first observation of photon to phonon conversion using spin-orbit torque and although the observed conversion efficiency was poor (1%), it opened the pathway for a new acoustic radiator. These studies complement past work done in the area of straintronics

Nouvelles Architectures Hybrides (Logique / Mémoires Non-Volatiles et technologies associées.)

Les nouvelles approches de technologies mémoires permettront une intégration dite back-end, où les cellules élémentaires de stockage seront fabriquées lors des dernières étapes de réalisation à grande échelle du circuit. Ces approches innovantes sont souvent basées sur l'utilisation de matériaux actifs présentant deux états de résistance distincts. Le passage d'un état à l'autre est contrôlé en courant ou en tension donnant lieu à une caractéristique I-V hystérétique. Nos mémoires résistives sont composées d'argent en métal électrochimiquement actif et de sulfure amorphe agissant comme électrolyte. Leur fonctionnement repose sur la formation réversible et la dissolution d'un filament conducteur. Le potentiel d'application de ces nouveaux dispositifs n'est pas limité aux mémoires ultra-haute densité mais aussi aux circuits embarqués. En empilant ces mémoires dans la troisième dimension au niveau des interconnections des circuits logiques CMOS, de nouvelles architectures hybrides et innovantes deviennent possibles. Il serait alors envisageable d'exploiter un fonctionnement à basse énergie, à haute vitesse d'écriture/lecture et de haute performance telles que l'endurance et la rétention. Dans cette thèse, en se concentrant sur les aspects de la technologie de mémoire en vue de développer de nouvelles architectures, l'introduction d'une fonctionnalité non-volatile au niveau logique est démontrée par trois circuits hybrides: commutateurs de routage non volatiles dans un Field Programmable Gate Arrays, un 6T-SRAM non volatile, et les neurones stochastiques pour un réseau neuronal. Pour améliorer les solutions existantes, les limitations de la performances des dispositifs mémoires sont identifiés et résolus avec des nouveaux empilements ou en fournissant des défauts de circuits tolérants.Novel approaches in the field of memory technology should enable backend integration, where individual storage nodes will be fabricated during the last fabrication steps of the VLSI circuit. In this case, memory operation is often based upon the use of active materials with resistive switching properties. A topology of resistive memory consists of silver as electrochemically active metal and amorphous sulfide acting as electrolyte and relies on the reversible formation and dissolution of a conductive filament. The application potential of these new memories is not limited to stand-alone (ultra-high density), but is also suitable for embedded applications. By stacking these memories in the third dimension at the interconnection level of CMOS logic, new ultra-scalable hybrid architectures becomes possible which exploit low energy operation, fast write/read access and high performance with respect to endurance and retention. In this thesis, focusing on memory technology aspects in view of developing new architectures, the introduction of non-volatile functionality at the logic level is demonstrated through three hybrid (CMOS logic ReRAM devices) circuits: nonvolatile routing switches in a Field Programmable Gate Array, nonvolatile 6T-SRAMs, and stochastic neurons of an hardware neural network. To be competitive or even improve existing solutions, limitations on the memory devices performances are identified and solved by stack engineering of CBRAM devices or providing faults tolerant circuits.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Remagnetization and magnetization dynamics in complex magnetic textures, from antidots lattice to nanodots

Wydział FizykiLokalne zaburzenie uporządkowania magnetycznego, które może rozprzestrzeniać się w postaci fali w materiale magnetycznym, zostało przewidziane przez Blocha w 1929 roku i nazwane falą spinową. Periodycznie strukturyzowane układy magnoniczne są sztucznymi ośrodkami o okresowo modulowanych właściwościach magnetycznych, zwane kryształami magnonicznymi. W takich strukturach można znaleźć skomplikowane tekstury magnetyczne takie jak domeny magnetyczne, worteksy czy skyrmiony. Skyrmion jest kwazicząsteczką, charakteryzującą się tzw. ładunkiem topologicznym, będącą możliwie najmniejszym i jednocześnie stabilnym zakłóceniem jednorodnego namagnesowania. W ramach pracy doktorskiej autor zaprezentował pięć publikacji naukowych zawierających wyniki badań: procesów przemagnesowania, rezonansu ferromagnetycznego, propagacji fal spinowych w strukturalizowanych materiałach ferromagnetycznych; stabilizacji skyrmionów w nanokropkach magnetycznych w których możliwe jest istnienie dwóch stanów skyrmionowych (skyrmionu o małej i dużej średnicy) o zbliżonych poziomach energetycznych; badania możliwości formowania skyrmionów w sieci kwadratowej dziur w trakcie procesu przemagnesowania; badania sieci dziur w wielowarstwach ferromagnetycznych z prostopadłą anizotropią, w których zaobserwowano skomplikowaną teksturę magnetyczną. W ostatnim rozdziale doktoratu autor zaprezentował podsumowanie, plany badawcze oraz krótkie zestawienie innych osiągnięć naukowych.Bloch predicted a disturbance in the local magnetic order which can propagate in a magnetic material in a form of wave in 1929. It named as a spin wave since it is related to a collective excitation of the spins in ferromagnetic media. Magnonic crystals are artificial magnetic media with periodically modulated magnetic properties in space, well known as a structure where spin waves band structure consists of intervals of allowed bands of spin-wave frequencies and forbidden band gaps, making them structures with interesting properties. Magnetic skyrmions are solitonic magnetisation textures, whose stability is protected by their topology. In this thesis, the author presents the results of studying the static and dynamic properties of the complex ferromagnetic structures and unique skyrmion properties. The author studied magnetisation textures in patterned thin films during the remagnetisation process. In the next step, he studied the ferromagnetic resonance and characteristic of propagating spin-waves in the same structures. Then, he started investigations of skyrmion stabilisation in nanodisc and skyrmion nucleation process in antidot lattice during the remagnetisation process. Finally, he analysed the complex magnetic textures in patterned multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.Various parts of the presented thesis were supported by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN), Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW), and European Union Horizon 2020 and other: 1. NCN PRELUDIUM 14, Grant No. 2018/31/N/ST7/03918 (PI), 2. NCN SONATA BIS 2 (2013-2018), Grant No. 2012/07/ST3/00538. 3. EU Horizon 2020 project MagIC Grant No. 644348, 4. Scholarship founded by Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation, 5. Scholarship founded by dr Jan Kulczyk Foundation, 6. OPUS11 (2017-2019), Grant No. 2016/21/B/ST3/00452, 7. OPUS9 (2016-2019), Grant No. 2015/17/B/ST3/00118, 8. "Premia na Horyzoncie" - MNiSW Grant No. 328712/PnH/2016, 9. National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic (two scholarships in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018), 10. The simulations were partially performed at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (Grant No. 398)

Mechanics of Micro and Nanoscale Structures in Self-Assembled Surface Features, Molecular Machines and Biomaterials.

This research is motivated by the interest to understand how physical forces affect the configurational change of small structures. First, I report a mechanism that under an off-normal incident ion beam, ordered nanodroplets may emerge spontaneously on a solid surface. My continuum theory considers sputtering, deposition, wetting and surface energy. The simulations show that a competition between the mass supply and sputtering determines the stable size of the droplet, while the anisotropic mass flux drives the droplet to move. The balance of the flux leads to a hexagonal pattern. The shadow effect causes the droplets to line up perpendicular to the incident beam. The mechanism may be applicable to other systems to form ordered nanoscale features by self-assembly. Next, I consider individual functional structures, and use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effect of force on stimulus-induced deformation of rotaxane-based artificial molecular muscles. Bistable rotaxanes are composed of ring and dumbbell-shaped backbone. Upon an external stimulus, the ring switches between two recognition sites along the backbone, enabling large deformation like molecular muscles. My study shows that a small external force slows down the shuttling motion, leading to longer actuation time to full extension. Larger force significantly reduces the traveling distance of the ring and strain output. A maximum load exists which completely suppresses the shuttling motion. Last, I extend research to living structures. I use light scattering experiment to detect normal and malaria-infected blood cells. The latter are stiffer with different scattering property. By measuring the wavelength-dependent scattering at discrete angles of both forward and backward directions, I find that the signal can clearly distinguish healthy and ring stage malaria infected red blood cells. The results demonstrate elastic light scattering as a promising non-invasive diagnostic tool. In a small structure, forces of different physical origins contribute to the free energy. When the configuration changes, the free energy also changes. This free energy change defines a thermodynamic force that drives the configuration change. Insight into the process becomes increasingly valuable as the structures miniaturize. The representative systems studied in this thesis highlights the rich dynamics.Ph.D.Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86379/1/leeseung_1.pd