28 May 2024 | Long Liu, Di Wang, Dandan Wang, Yan Sun, Huai Lin, Xiliang Gong, Yifan Zhang, Ruifeng Tang, Zhihong Mai, Zhipeng Hou, Yumeng Yang, Peng Li, Lan Wang, Qing Luo, Ling Li, Guozhong Xing & Ming Liu
This study presents a breakthrough in the hardware implementation of energy-efficient all-spin synapse and neuron devices for highly scalable integrated neuromorphic circuits. The researchers demonstrate the successful execution of all-spin synapse and activation function generator using domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions (DW-MTJs). By leveraging the synergistic effects of spin-orbit torque and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in selectively etched spin-orbit coupling layers, they achieve a programmable multi-state synaptic device with high reliability. First-principles calculations confirm that the reduced atomic distance between 5d and 3d atoms enhances Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, leading to stable domain wall pinning. Experimental results, supported by visualizing energy landscapes and theoretical simulations, validate the proposed mechanism. A spin-neuron with a sigmoidal activation function is demonstrated, enabling high operation frequency up to 20 MHz and low energy consumption of 508 fJ/operation. A neuron circuit design with a compact sigmoidal cell area and low power consumption is also presented, along with corroborated experimental implementation. The findings highlight the great potential of domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions in the development of all-spin neuromorphic computing hardware, offering exciting possibilities for energy-efficient and scalable neural network architectures. The study also explores the implementation of spin-synapses based on DW-MTJs with tailored iDMI and spin-neuron realization in the form of sigmoidal activation function generators. The results show that the DW-pMTJ-based all-spin synaptic and sigmoidal neuron prototype shows great potential in energy-efficient neuromorphic hardware development with high performance in a standard CMOS-process-technology-compatible way. The study demonstrates the feasibility of constructing a sigmoidal spin-neuron using the same scheme as that of a synaptic device experimentally. By further complementary micro-magnetic and circuit-level co-simulation, a sigmoid activation function generator has been successfully demonstrated based on a DW-pMTJ driven by synergistic SOT and iDMI with an energy consumption of 36.3 fJ/pulse. The study also presents a neuron circuit design with a compact sigmoidal cell area and low power consumption, along with corroborated experimental implementation. The overall energy consumption is less than 508 fJ/operation including the reset process with a competitive firing rate up to 20 MHz. The developed devices are compatible with the current standard CMOS technology and the magnetoresistive random-access memory process, without any exotic material, complicated structure, and extra masks in comparison with the state-of-the-art, offering a promising and applicable candidate for neuromorphic devices and chips application in new trajectories with a device-circuit perspective and the envision design of all-spin neuron circuits.This study presents a breakthrough in the hardware implementation of energy-efficient all-spin synapse and neuron devices for highly scalable integrated neuromorphic circuits. The researchers demonstrate the successful execution of all-spin synapse and activation function generator using domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions (DW-MTJs). By leveraging the synergistic effects of spin-orbit torque and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in selectively etched spin-orbit coupling layers, they achieve a programmable multi-state synaptic device with high reliability. First-principles calculations confirm that the reduced atomic distance between 5d and 3d atoms enhances Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, leading to stable domain wall pinning. Experimental results, supported by visualizing energy landscapes and theoretical simulations, validate the proposed mechanism. A spin-neuron with a sigmoidal activation function is demonstrated, enabling high operation frequency up to 20 MHz and low energy consumption of 508 fJ/operation. A neuron circuit design with a compact sigmoidal cell area and low power consumption is also presented, along with corroborated experimental implementation. The findings highlight the great potential of domain wall-magnetic tunnel junctions in the development of all-spin neuromorphic computing hardware, offering exciting possibilities for energy-efficient and scalable neural network architectures. The study also explores the implementation of spin-synapses based on DW-MTJs with tailored iDMI and spin-neuron realization in the form of sigmoidal activation function generators. The results show that the DW-pMTJ-based all-spin synaptic and sigmoidal neuron prototype shows great potential in energy-efficient neuromorphic hardware development with high performance in a standard CMOS-process-technology-compatible way. The study demonstrates the feasibility of constructing a sigmoidal spin-neuron using the same scheme as that of a synaptic device experimentally. By further complementary micro-magnetic and circuit-level co-simulation, a sigmoid activation function generator has been successfully demonstrated based on a DW-pMTJ driven by synergistic SOT and iDMI with an energy consumption of 36.3 fJ/pulse. The study also presents a neuron circuit design with a compact sigmoidal cell area and low power consumption, along with corroborated experimental implementation. The overall energy consumption is less than 508 fJ/operation including the reset process with a competitive firing rate up to 20 MHz. The developed devices are compatible with the current standard CMOS technology and the magnetoresistive random-access memory process, without any exotic material, complicated structure, and extra masks in comparison with the state-of-the-art, offering a promising and applicable candidate for neuromorphic devices and chips application in new trajectories with a device-circuit perspective and the envision design of all-spin neuron circuits.