We describe the development of a magnetic logic device that is uniquely different from spintronic approaches based on magnetoresistive effects that derive from spin dependent transport of carriers. The core of our device is a thin film avalanche diode channel fabricated as a p-n bilayer. Because of the structural asymmetry, the carriers are sensitive to an in-plane magnetic field and the diode has a large magnetoresistance. We characterize our device as a current switch. The high- and low-current states are well defined and are determined by the magnetic field. Positive or negative field orientation with constant field strength is an appropriate selector. We then describe an integrated avalanche diode logic device in which the magnetic field is provided by the local fringe field from a patterned ferromagnetic film with nanometer dimensions. The magnetization orientation of the nanomagnet, and the sign of the magnetic field, is set by spin torque transfer (STT) using small amplitude current pulses. We describe how simple arrangements of these integrated devices can be used as dynamically reconfigurable logic gates. Reconfigurable Boolean AND/OR gates using early prototype structures with micron dimensions are shown. Scaling arguments that justify the plausibility of fabricating an integrated device with dimensions of 100 nm are presented. These arguments suggest that such a device could produce an output current driving STT write processes and provide fanout capability in an integrated network.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.