Balancing stress & dipolar interactions for fast, low power, reliable switching in multiferroic logic

Abstract

In this work, we will focus on efficient transmission to NM2 of information just written onto NM1 with torque from a current spin polarized by the hard layer (Fig. Ib, period A). In order to propagate the logic bit unidirectionally from NMI to NM2 and switch the magnetization of the latter, a small local voltage (~10 mV) applied to the piezoelectric element stresses the magnetization of NM2 to switch to its hard axis (Fig. 1 b, period B). Upon releasing the stress, the magnetization of the NM2 relaxes to the easy axis, with its final orientation determined by the dipolar coupling with the NMI (NM3 still stressed and kept out of operation), thus achieving a fast and low power Bennett clocked computation (Fig. 1 b, period C). In this work, we will assess the interplay between stress and dipolar coupling by varying the stressing profiles (Fig. lc). Specifically we will explore the trade-off between energy dissipated, switching speed and reliability, through a thermodynamic study of the complex 3D spin dynamics of the NMs, captured within a stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert formalism.