Spintronic Artificial Synapses Using Voltage‐Controlled Multilevel Magnetic States

Abstract

Abstract Neuromorphic computing offers energy‐efficient computations for large‐scale data processing compared to conventional von Neumann computing. The artificial synapse, a key element for learning and memory operations in neuromorphic computing, requires multi‐state characteristics and the capability to change and store its states. The implementation of hardware‐based artificial synapses using nonvolatile memory provides significant advantages in terms of energy consumption and circuit area compared to their currently employed CMOS‐based counterparts. In this regard, spintronic devices have emerged as a promising candidate due to their desirable properties for artificial synapses, including multilevel formability, non‐volatility, and outstanding writing performance. In this study, spintronic artificial synapses utilizing voltage‐controlled multilevel magnetic states and energy‐ and area‐efficient artificial neural network architectures associated with them are demonstrated. The multilevel states are created by gradually modulating the magnetic easy‐axis orientation from perpendicular to in‐plane and vice versa, which is achieved either by sequentially applying gate voltage pulses or by adjusting the pulse width of the gate voltage. Based on these spintronic artificial synapses, convolutional neural network (CNN) and spiking neural network (SNN) architectures are constructed, demonstrating high recognition accuracy for the MNIST dataset with improved energy efficiency and a reduced circuit area.

Keywords

• artificial synapse
• neuromorphic computing
• voltage‐controlled magnetic anisotropy