SPECTER · Spin-charge conversion in highly resistive spin-orbit materials
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31
- EU contribution
- €160,932
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Spin-charge conversion in highly resistive spin-orbit materials
After three decades of massive chip innovation, the scaling of CMOS logic devices is reaching its fundamental limits. With voltage and frequency scaling slowing down and power consumption and heating issues increasing, the need for beyond-CMOS solutions has never been bigger. One promising solution for energy-efficient computation are magnetoelectric spin-orbit devices, a new concept where logic operations are performed by electrically switching and reading nanoscale magnets. However, the experimental realization of this device requires major breakthroughs regarding quantum materials and fabrication processes. SPECTER aims at experimentally benchmarking materials that show potential for spin-based logic devices, that can be used to read magnetic states. Both the physics and experimental approach derived from SPECTER will be a major milestone in spintronics, prompting not only advanced research in the future but also solutions for next-gen device applications. The project focuses on three interconnected work packages: (1) investigation of the role of tunnel barriers at ferromagnetic/spin-orbit material interfaces, to increase the electrical output readout, and fabrication and experimentally measuring all-electrical spin-charge conversion in (2) topological insulator BiSe and (3) Iridium oxide-based nanodevices for magnetic readout.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
With the current technology of transistors reaching characteristic sizes of a few nanometers, and heating effects becoming more severe, the regular functionality of processors is at stake. In the next few years, new technologies are required to sustain the increasingly high demands imposed by the consumer electronics industry worldwide. Among the wide range of proposed options, spintronics is considered to be one of the leading candidates to fill this gap, backed by recent proposals for spin-based computation using magnetoelectric spin-orbit devices. In these devices, the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic material is read through the conversion of spin currents in charge currents, where two resistance levels can be unambiguously detected depending on the magnetization direction of the ferromagnet, i.e. a “1” and a ”0” state. The main goal of SPECTER is to find the most suitable material exhibiting large spin-to-charge conversion efficiencies combined with large resistivities, allowing the generation of high output voltages for a subsequent writing step. To achieve this result, a careful balance between adequate materials beyond the conventional high spin-orbit coupling metals, and device fabrication of nanostructures that maximize spin-to-charge conversion detection needs to be achieved. With this proposal, we want to explore nanostructured topological insulators and correlated oxides fabricated by industry-friendly techniques, such as sputtering and e-beam lithography, while benchmarking them for future spin-based devices. This way, SPECTER not only poses a revolutionary step towards the next generation of processors, but also aims at acquiring scientific knowledge with technological applications to be useful for both academia and industry. Moreover, the ultimate goal of SPECTER is to offer high-quality interdisciplinary research training for an aspiring young researcher helping him to build a promising scientific research career.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ASOCIACION CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION COOPERATIVA EN NANOCIENCIAS CIC NANOGUNE · San SebastianCoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union