Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework Research Articles

Micromagnetic behavior of permalloy (Ni80Fe20) nanodots as a function of aspect ratio

We present the results of computational micromagnetic simulations at zero temperature under free boundary conditions for Permalloy nanodots. The nanodot’s diameter (D) was varied from 20 to 120 nm, and the thickness (t) ranged from 4 to 120 nm, which allows to obtain different aspect ratios t/D. Simulations were conducted using the Ubermag platform and the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF). The hysteresis loops exhibited a strong dependence on the aspect ratio (t/D), which was evident in the narrowing of the hysteresis curves as this ratio approached unity. This phenomenon led to the formation of nucleation and annihilation fields, resulting in the formation of vortex-type magnetic textures with a central core capable of moving within the basal plane. Furthermore, the time dynamics at each step of the magnetic field were addressed by solving the time-dependent Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert differential equation, where the system’s Hamiltonian is defined in terms of magnetocrystalline anisotropy, demagnetization, exchange, and Zeeman contributions. Energy diagrams illustrate the competition among these energies, attempting to attain their equilibrium state, thereby creating a complex energy landscape. Moreover, they operate on different orders of magnitude, whence their relative importance is discussed. Final results are summarized in a proposal of phase diagrams.

Predictions of optimal heating by magnetic reversal behavior of magnetic nanowires (MNWs) with different materials

Objective Magnetic nanowires (MNWs) are potential candidates for heating in biomedical applications that require rapid and uniform heating rates, such as warming cryopreserved organs and hyperthermia treatment of cancer cells. Therefore, it is essential to determine which materials and geometries will provide the optimal heating using available alternating magnetic fields (AMF). Method Micromagnetic simulations are used to investigate the heating ability of MNWs by predicting their hysteretic behavior. MNWs composed of iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) or permalloy (FeNi alloy, Py) with different diameters (10-200 nm) are simulated using object oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF). Results Hysteresis loops are obtained for each simulated MNW, and the 2D/3D magnetic moment map is simulated to show the reversal mechanism. The heating ability, in terms of specific loss power (SLP), is calculated from the area of the hysteresis loop times frequency for each MNW for comparison with others. Conclusion It is estimated that a theoretical optimal heating ability of 2730 W/g can be provided by isolated Co MNWs with 50 nm diameters using a typical AMF system that can supply 72 kA/m field amplitude and 50 kHz in frequency. Generalized correlation between coercivity and size/material of MNWs is provided as a guidance for researchers to choose the most appropriate MNW as a heater for their AMF system and vice versa.

Studying the rate-dependent specific absorption rate in magnetic hyperthermia through multiscale simulations

In this work, the issue of whether the dynamic magnetic properties of monodispersed magnetic colloids, modeled using micromagnetic simulations, can be extrapolated to analyze magnetic particle hyperthermia data, i.e., specific absorption rate (SAR) values acquired at high frequencies of excitation fields, is addressed. Micromagnetic finite difference simulations were performed using the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) software package in order to obtain the dynamic hysteresis loops under a 24 kA/m alternating magnetic field amplitude and for various frequencies (50–765 kHz). In OOMMF, the finite difference method was used to find the solution of the nonlinear Landau–Lifshitz Gilbert (LLG) equation, which describes the nanoparticles’ magnetization motion when applying an effective magnetic field. To create a system of randomly oriented magnetite nanoparticles having a certain volume fraction (0.02%) that coincides with the experimentally utilized concentration of 1 mg/ml, we start with a perfect simple cubic lattice with a large lattice spacing so that the particle–particle distance is large enough to neglect dipolar interactions (non-interacting nanoparticles). The system under study is a set of 40-nm magnetite nanoparticles with a lognormal size distribution. The simulations were performed assuming quasistatic conditions, an approach that is reasonable for ferromagnetic-like behavior. It is worth noting that the code considers not only the uniaxial anisotropy Ku but also the cubic magnetocrystalline one Kc as well. Kc is usually neglected in literature because the uniaxial contribution dominates, but this is not the case for magnetite since Ku = 9 kJ/m3 and Kc = −11 kJ/m3. Moreover, such an inclusion seems quite reasonable since the magnetocrystalline anisotropy is always present yet with a relative contribution. The SAR values at each frequency were determined after calculating hysteresis losses via the area of the simulated hysteresis loops. Interestingly, SAR values at low frequencies followed an exponential increase trend with a frequency indicating a deviation from the linear behavior usually reported in the literature. To validate our approach, we employed a coupled electromagnetic-thermal model based on COMSOL Multiphysics simulations that provides an accurate estimation of the magnetic field and temperature distribution within the ferrofluid. The time-dependent temperature curves are obtained after 30 min of magnetic particle hyperthermia treatment for the same alternating magnetic field amplitude used in OOMMF simulations (30 mT) and for two representative frequency values. One in the low (300 kHz) and one in the high (765 kHz) frequency regimes. The numerical curves were compared to the corresponding experimental ones and found to be in good agreement. Our findings provide new insight into the validity of dynamic micromagnetic simulation to analyze the frequency behavior of SAR within the framework of LLG and indicate that anisotropy selection plays a key role in the reliability of simulations.

Valley-Spin Hall Effect-Based Nonvolatile Memory With Exchange-Coupling-Enabled Electrical Isolation of Read and Write Paths

Valley-spin hall (VSH) effect in monolayer WSe2 has been shown to exhibit highly beneficial features for nonvolatile memory (NVM) design. Key advantages of VSH-based magnetic random access memory (VSH-MRAM) over spin orbit torque (SOT)-MRAM include access transistor-less compact bit-cell and low-power switching of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) magnets. Nevertheless, large device resistance in the read path ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) due to low mobility of WSe2 and Schottky contacts deteriorates sense margin (SM), offsetting the benefits of VSH-MRAM. To address this limitation, we propose another flavor of VSH-MRAM that (while inheriting most of the benefits of VSH-MRAM) achieves lower <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> in the read path by electrically isolating the read and write terminals. This is enabled by coupling VSH with electrically isolated but magnetically coupled PMA magnets via interlayer exchange coupling. Designing the proposed devices using object-oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF) simulation, we ensure the robustness of the exchange-coupled PMA system under process variations. To maintain a compact memory footprint, we share the read access transistor across multiple bit-cells. Compared with the existing VSH-MRAMs, our design achieves 39%–42% and 36%–46% reduction in read time and energy, respectively, along with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.1\times - 1.3\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> larger SM at a comparable area. This comes at the cost of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.7\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.0\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> increase in write time and energy, respectively. Thus, the proposed design is suitable for applications in which reads are more dominant than writes.

Field-Driven Magnetic Phase Diagram and Vortex Stability in Fe Nanometric Square Prisms

In this work, we deal with the zero temperature hysteretic properties of iron (Fe) quadrangular nanoprisms and the size conditions underlying magnetic vortex states formation. Different aspect ratios of a square base prism of thickness t with free boundary conditions were considered in order to summarize our results in a proposal of a field-driven magnetic phase diagram where such vortex states are stable along the hysteresis loops. To do that, a Hamiltonian consisting of exchange, magnetostatic, Zeeman and cubic anisotropy energies was considered. The time dynamics at each magnetic field step was performed by solving the time-dependent Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert differential equation. The micromagnetic simulations were performed using the Ubermag package based on the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF). Circular magnetic textures were also characterized by means of topological charge calculations. The aspect ratio dependencies of the coercive force, nucleation and annihilation fields are also analyzed. Computations agree with related experimental observations and other micromagnetic calculations.

Utilizing Valley–Spin Hall Effect in Monolayer WSe2 for Designing Low Power Nonvolatile Spintronic Devices and Flip-Flops

In this article, we propose low power nonvolatile flip-flops (NVFFs) utilizing valley–spin Hall effect (VSHE) in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ). The proposed designs are based on nonvolatile spintronic devices comprising of WSe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> -based charge-to-spin converter coupled with magnetic tunnel junctions. The proposed devices have an integrated back-gate to control the flow of charge and spin currents. VSHE leads to the flow of opposite spins in divergent directions perpendicular to the WSe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> layer with valley/spin Hall angle ~1. This enables encoding true and complementary bits in a single device utilizing magnets with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). By introducing exchange coupling between PMA magnets mediated by Ta and FeCo-oxide layers, we electrically isolate but magnetically couple the PMA free layers, which enable the design of backup/restore module of NVFFs with minimal number of transistors. Using object-oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF) simulation, we establish the robustness of the exchange-coupled PMA systems and show that the misalignment and reduction in exchange coupling strength, induced by process variations, have a minimal impact on their functionality. Exploiting the unique features of the proposed devices, we design two flavors of VSHE-based NVFFs (VSHE-NVFFs) and carry out their energy–delay characterization, including an extensive variation analysis. The proposed VSHE-NVFFs achieve 74%–75% lower backup energy and 55%–59% lower restore energy than the existing NVFFs based on giant spin Hall effect (GSHE).

Multifrequency Data Parallel Spin Wave Logic Gates

By their very nature, Spin Waves (SWs) with different frequencies can propagate through the same waveguide without affecting each other, while only interfering with their own species. Therefore, more SW encoded data sets can coexist, propagate, and interact in parallel, which opens the road towards hardware replication free parallel data processing. In this paper, we take advantage of these features and propose a novel data parallel spin wave based computing approach. To explain and validate the proposed concept, byte-wide 2-input XOR and 3-input Majority gates are implemented and validated by means of Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework (OOMMF) simulations. Furthermore, we introduce an optimization algorithm meant to minimize the area overhead associated with multifrequency operation and demonstrate that it diminishes the byte-wide gate area by 30% and 41% for XOR and Majority implementations, respectively. To get inside on the practical implications of our proposal we compare the byte-wide gates with conventional functionally equivalent scalar SW gate based implementations in terms of area, delay, and power consumption. Our results indicate that the area optimized 8-bit 2-input XOR and 3-input Majority gates require 4.47x and 4.16x less area, respectively, at the expense of 5% and 7% delay increase, respectively, without inducing any power consumption overhead. Finally, we discuss factors that are limiting the currently achievable parallelism to 8 for phase based gate output detection and demonstrate by means of OOMMF simulations that this can be increased 16 for threshold based detection based gates.

МАГНИТНЫЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ НЕЙРОННЫХ СЕТЕЙ. СВОЙСТВА МАГНИТНЫХ НЕОДНОРОДНОСТЕЙ В СИСТЕМАХ ОГРАНИЧЕННОЙ ГЕОМЕТРИИ

This paper discusses the prospects for using magnetic nanostructures as elements of neural networks. At present neural network learning programs are actively used in analyzing and processing large data arrays; however, the development of computer technologies based on the neural network principle still remains open. Possibilities for using magnetic elements as physical carriers of information bits in these systems attract much attention from researchers and technologists due to the presence of several easily controlled parameters (order parameter) in the magnetic system, possibilities for the dimensionality reduction in magnetic elements by using magnetic nanostructures (domain boundaries, vortices, ckyrmions), superquick switching between magnetic states and some other factors. One of the key aspects of research in this regard is to determine basic controlled magnetic parameters in restricted geometries and to identify ways of controlling these parameters through internal and external factors. The paper presents a research on the magnetic ground state in restricted geometries. It deals with the magnetic state rebuilding in the system under changes in both external factors (applied magnetic field, sample dimensions) and internal ones (magnetic anisotropy constant, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction constant). Calculations were performed within the framework of micromagnetic modelling using the Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework ( OOMMF) sogtware. It is shown that the anisotropic exchange interaction (Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction) has a significant effect on the magnetization distribution in restricted geometries. Namely, when changing the value of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya constant in the system with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy there is a series of phase transitions observed between magnetic states of different types: transitions from the homogenous magnetic state into the skyrmion-type vortex state (domain structure with the skyrmion-type unidomain state) with subsequent domain structure reversal when changing the value of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya constant. In the case of magnetic anisotropy of easy -axis type, chirality and properties of the structures in question do not depend on the constant symbol of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

Micromagnetic Simulations of Fe and Ni Nanodot Arrays Surrounded by Magnetic or Non-Magnetic Matrices.

Combining clusters of magnetic materials with a matrix of other magnetic materials is very interesting for basic research because new, possibly technologically applicable magnetic properties or magnetization reversal processes may be found. Here we report on different arrays combining iron and nickel, for example, by surrounding circular nanodots of one material with a matrix of the other or by combining iron and nickel nanodots in air. Micromagnetic simulations were performed using the OOMMF (Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework). Our results show that magnetization reversal processes are strongly influenced by neighboring nanodots and the magnetic matrix by which the nanodots are surrounded, respectively, which becomes macroscopically visible by several steps along the slopes of the hysteresis loops. Such material combinations allow for preparing quaternary memory systems, and are thus highly relevant for applications in data storage and processing.

Spin Wave Normalization Toward All Magnonic Circuits

The key enabling factor for Spin Wave (SW) technology utilization for building ultra low power circuits is the ability to energy efficiently cascade SW basic computation blocks. SW Majority gates, which constitute a universal gate set for this paradigm, operating on phase encoded data are not input output coherent in terms of SW amplitude, and as such, their cascading requires information representation conversion from SW to voltage and back, which is by no means energy effective. In this paper, a novel conversion free SW gate cascading scheme is proposed that achieves SW amplitude normalization by means of a directional coupler. After introducing the normalization concept, we utilize it in the implementation of three simple circuits and, to demonstrate its bigger scale potential, of a 2-bit inputs SW multiplier. The proposed structures are validated by means of the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) and GPU-accelerated Micromagnetics (MuMax3). Furthermore, we assess the normalization induced energy overhead and demonstrate that the proposed approach consumes 20% to 33% less energy when compared with the transducers based conventional counterpart. Finally, we introduce a normalization based SW 2-bit inputs multiplier design and compare it with functionally equivalent SW transducer based and 16nm CMOS designs. Our evaluation indicate that the proposed approach provided 26% and 6.25x energy reductions when compared with the conventional approach and 16nm CMOS counterpart, respectively, which demonstrates that our proposal is energy effective and opens the road towards the full utilization of the SW paradigm potential and the development of SW only circuits.

Interlayer Exchange Coupled Based Nanomagnetic Multiplier Architecture Design Methodology

In this manuscript, Inter-Layer Exchange Coupled (IEC) based 2-bit multiplier architecture model methodology has been proposed here and to the best of author's knowledge is the first of its kind. Subsequently, the proposed model methodology has been executed using the extensively recognized Object Oriented Micro-Magnetic Framework (OOMMF) platform. The reliability of the IEC based multiplier model was determined by analyzing the temperature variation impact up to the Curie temperature. It was noticed that unlike the dipole coupled architecture, the IEC based multiplier model has the capability of operating even up to Curie temperature at sub-50nm justifying stability with respect to the temperature variations.

A novel and reliable interlayer exchange coupled nanomagnetic universal logic gate design

In this paper, we propose an interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) based 3D universal NAND/NOR gate design methodology for the reliable and robust implementation of nanomagnetic logic design as compared to the state-of-the art architectures. Owing to stronger coupling scheme as compared to the conventional dipole coupling, the random flip of the states of the nanomagnets (i.e. the soft error) is reduced resulting in greater scalability and better data retention at the deep sub-micron level. Results obtained from Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework micromagnetic simulation show even at a Curie temperature of the nanomagnets coupled through IEC, the logic function works properly as opposed to dipole coupled nanomagnets which fails at 5 K when scaled down to sub 50 nm. Contemplating the fabrication challenges, the robustness of the IEC design was studied for structural defects, positional misalignment, shape, and size variations. This proposed 3D universal gate design methodology benefits from the miniaturization of nanomagnets as well as reduces the effect of thermally induced errors resulting in opening up a new perspective for nanomagnet based design in magneto-logic devices.

Cross-Sectional Area Dependence of Tunnel Magnetoresistance, Thermal Stability, and Critical Current Density in MTJ

Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), thermal stability, and critical switching current are important metrics of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). In this work, a detailed study of these metrics is conducted for the down-scaling of the transverse dimensions of the MTJ. The quantum transport and the magnetization dynamics simulations are performed using non-equilibrium Green's function in the mode-space approach and object-oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF), respectively. The study of areal size quantization effects on the TMR shows that most of the contribution to the TMR comes from lower energy sub-bands and that the TMR saturates for dimensions above 50 nm. An anomalous behavior is observed in the bias dependence of TMR for the lower energy sub-bands and is explained in terms of the modified Slonczewski's analytical model for conductance around zero bias. The study of TMR scaling is extended to consider non-idealities by introducing elastic dephasing into our simulations. It is shown that with down-scaling of diameters, dephasing affects the zero bias TMR predominantly below 20 nm. Furthermore, TMR is also studied in terms of sensitivity to the variations in the interface layer and the asymmetric reduction of TMR with bias and its reversal at higher bias is observed. OOMMF simulations of the larger stack, including the free layer, are carried out to understand the qualitative link between magnet switching behavior, thermal stability, and critical current density with area scaling. It is shown that the area dependence of thermal stability and critical current follows each other qualitatively and the scaling of both these metrics is correlated with different regimes of magnetization switching, such as macrospin behavior or formation of metastable complex textures. The implications of scaling, on the various MTJ metrics, are discussed in terms of the application domain.

Effect of Low Substrate Temperature on the Magnetic Properties and Domain Structure of Fe₇₀Ga₃₀ Thin Films

We report on the effect of low substrate temperature on the correlation between structure, magnetic properties, and micromagnetic behavior of Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">70</sub> Ga <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">30</sub> thin films. The enhanced grain size and the decrease in the number of pinning centers are in correlation with the enhanced saturation magnetization and domain size (~0.2-0.5 μm), respectively. Estimated effective magnetic anisotropy energy (K <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">eff</sub> ) is found to increase with substrate temperature from 7.5 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> J/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> (room temperature) to 13.6 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> J/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> (350 °C). The coercivity variation from the object-oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF) simulation is in line with respect to experimental values. Spin structure from simulation also indicates multiple-domain configuration when there is a magnetization reversal.

The diameter effect on the magnetization switching time of sphere-shaped ferromagnets using micromagnetic approach

In this work, the magnetization switching time has been studied as the diameter variation of sphere-shaped ferromagnets by means of micromagnetic simulation. Some ferromagnetic elements such as cobalt, iron, nickel, and permalloy were numerically simulated with diameter size variation from 50 nm to 100 nm. The micromagnetic simulation was performed by public software Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation. The ferromagnetic nano-sphere was induced by the quasi-static magnetic field to observe its magnetization response. Generally, it is observed that the switching time increases as the diameter size increases on the ferromagnetic elements. However, the switching time are relatively insensitive as the diameter increases in the Cobalt element for the diameter range from 60 nm to 90 nm. This behavior is contributed to the distribution of magnetization easy axis on the ferromagnetic elements. The understanding of domain structures during magnetization switching process is important in the development of nano-patterned magnetic memory storage.

Micromagnetic simulations of reversal magnetization in core ((Nd&lt;sub&gt;0.7&lt;/sub&gt;, Ce&lt;sub&gt;0.3&lt;/sub&gt;)&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;Fe&lt;sub&gt;14&lt;/sub&gt;B)-shell (Nd&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;Fe&lt;sub&gt;14&lt;/sub&gt;B) type

The effects of core size, shell thickness and shell distribution on the coercivity of single-grain core ((Nd&lt;sub&gt;0.7&lt;/sub&gt;,Ce&lt;sub&gt;0.3&lt;/sub&gt;)&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;Fe&lt;sub&gt;14&lt;/sub&gt;B)-shell (Nd&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;Fe&lt;sub&gt;14&lt;/sub&gt;B) magnets are studied by programming and modeling them through using the C++ language. All the micromagnetic simulations are carried out via object oriented micro magnetic framework (OOMMF). The results show that the coercivity decreases with the increase of core size when the shell thickness is constant. It is considered that for the grain, the increase in the size of the core leads the average magnetocrystalline anisotropy field to increase and the total demagnetization energy to increase, thereby contributing to the magnetization reversal occurring under a smaller external field. When the core size is unchanged, as the shell thickness increases gradually, the coercivity first increases and then decreases. The analysis of the position of the nucleation point shows that the reason why the coercivity increases in the early period is mainly that the nucleation point is located at the core-shell junction and belongs to the core. As the thickness of the shell increases, the exchange interaction effect between the magnetic moment of the shell and the one of the nucleation point is strengthened, so a larger external field is needed in the nucleation process. As for the decrease of the coercivity in the later period, the main reason is that the nucleation points are exactly the vertices of the shell (also the vertices of the grain), and the increase of the shell thickness conduces to increasing the total demagnetization energy, so the nucleation points can be formed under a smaller external magnetic field. With core size and shell volume kept unchanged, when the shell is distributed on the two easy-axis planes (i.e. the planes perpendicular to the easy axis) of the core, the coercivity of the magnet reaches a largest value. It is because that the nucleation points are located at the vertices of the shell (also the vertices of the grain), of which the magnetocrystalline anisotropy field is larger, and the demagnetization field is smaller. Via magnetocrystalline anisotropy field, the demagnetization energy, nucleation point, etc, the changes of coercivity in above cases can be explained.

Characterisation of a perpendicular nanomagnetic cell and design of reversible XOR gates based on perpendicular nanomagnetic cells

The purpose of this research is to find out a perpendicular nanomagnetic cell with optimum dimensions by using Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) simulation. The optimum perpendicular nanomagnetic cell is characterised and the effect of nano-size on the performance of the cell is explored. Nanomagnetic basic gates are implemented by applying the proper arrangement of nanomagnetic cells. The optimum size of nano cell is 50 × 30 × 5 nm. In this survey, all designs are implemented by employing 3-input and 5-input minority gates. The clock signal, which is a uniform magnetic external field, is needed for proper performance of gates. An irreversible 2-input XOR gate is suggested by these gates based on perpendicular nanomagnetic cells. Moreover, the power dissipation is a major concern in digital circuits. It was proved that the heat dissipation will be very low in reversible circuits. Therefore, the reversible XOR gates are suggested by applying the proposed gates in this study. The correctness of operation of the presented gates is verified by using MagCAD tool. According to the simulation results, the proposed 2-input XOR gates in a single layer have significant improvement in terms of gate count, delay and complexity in comparison to the previous design.

Spin–Orbit Torque and Spin Hall Effect-Based Cellular Level Therapeutic Spintronic Neuromodulator: A Simulation Study

Artificial modulation of a neuronal subset through ion channels activation can initiate firing patterns of an entire neural circuit in vivo. As nanovalves in the cell membrane, voltage-gated ion channels can be artificially controlled by the electric field gradient that caused by externally applied time varying magnetic fields. Herein, we theoretically investigate the feasibility of modulating neural activities by using magnetic spintronic nanostructures. An antiferromagnet/ferromagnet (AFM/FM) structure is explored as neuromodulator. For FM layer with perpendicular magnetization, stable bidirectional magnetization switching can be achieved by applying in-plane currents through AFM layer to induce the spin-orbit torque (SOT) due to the spin Hall effect (SHE). This Spin-orbit Torque Neurostimulator (SOTNS) utilizes in-plane charge current pulses to switch the magnetization in FM layer. The time changing magnetic stray field induces electric field that modulates the surrounding neurons. The Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) is used to calculate space and time dependent magnetic dynamics of SOTNS structure. The current driven magnetization dynamics in SOTNS has no mechanically moving parts. Furthermore, the size of SOTNS can be down to tens of nanometers, thus, arrays of SOTNSs could be fabricated, integrated together and patterned on a flexible substrate, which gives us much more flexible control of the neuromodulation with cellular resolution.

A theoretical study of switching energy efficiency in sub-10-nm spintronic devices

Spin-transfer torque (STT) magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in the sub-10-nm size range have shown enhancement in energy efficiency. This improved switching energy efficiency means a longer spin relaxation time, a corresponding stronger spin accumulation, and a resulting lower switching current density. This improvement in switching energy efficiency stems from a reduction in damping as the device size is reduced. This can be seen by a reduction in the damping constant in the Landau-Lifshitz Gilbert (LLG) equation. This term can take a range of values, and this range depends on the different contributions from the surface relative to the bulk. Specifically, at such small sizes the damping constant differs from the bulk damping constant. In this study, a detailed equation defining this surface-to-volume relative contribution was developed. This theory was tested through simulations involving a sub-10-nm cobalt cube utilizing the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF). These simulations showed a longer spin relaxation time with a decrease in device size (defined by side length) as well as a reduction in switching current density with a decrease in side length. This reduction in switching current density was approximately logarithmic versus volume, surface area, and side length. Moreover, in the sub-5-nm range, this reduction was nearly linear with respect to side length. These results agree with theoretical predictions and they are aligned with the experimentally demonstrated quantum size effect.

Micromagnetic simulation of dynamic magnetic susceptibility and magnetostatic interaction fields of conical-shaped barium ferrite nanodot arrays

In this paper, the dynamic susceptibility spectra and magnetostatic interaction fields of conical-shaped barium ferrite nanodot arrays were systematically simulated based on the 3D object-oriented micromagnetic framework (OOMMF). This unique structure exhibits multi-resonance peaks and the stratified resonance model due to the non-uniform distribution of the demagnetizing field. Furthermore, the calculated the interaction fields of the conical-shaped nanodot arrays illustrate the dependence of the resonance frequency on the distance and size. Consequently, this conical-shaped nanodots array has potential to be applied in microwave-absorbing materials due to the multi-resonance peaks formation and requires precise control of the size and distance, which determine the resonance frequency.