Recent advances in key elements of spin-wave logic gates

Abstract

Traditional charge-based device development is approaching the limit of Moores law, thus, there is a desperate need for new information processing principles or architectures. Replacing traditional charge-based devices with non-charge-based devices for information processing shows promise. Spin waves, which are generated from the collective precession of electron spins, are thought to be an important information carrier for the transmission and processing of information in a beyond-Moore era. Spin-wave logic gates possess incomparable advantages over traditional logic devices in energy consumption, device scale, application frequency, and logical operation, among other factors. This article explains the operating principles of spin-wave logic gates based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure, and then analyzes the realization theory of key spin-wave logic gate elements at a device level. Recent advances in these key elements are also reviewed systematically. Lastly, future prospects of spin-wave logic gates are discussed.