Neuromorphic weighted sums with magnetic skyrmions

Abstract

Integrating magnetic skyrmions into neuromorphic computing could help improve hardware efficiency and computational power. However, developing a scalable implementation of the weighted sum of neuron signals - a core operation in neural networks - has remained a challenge. Here, we show that weighted sum operations can be performed in a compact, biologically-inspired manner by using the non-volatile and particle-like characteristics of magnetic skyrmions that make them easily countable and summable. The skyrmions are electrically generated in numbers proportional to an input with an efficiency given by a non-volatile weight. The chiral particles are then directed using localized current injections to a location where their presence is quantified through non-perturbative electrical measurements. Our experimental demonstration, which currently has two inputs, can be scaled to accommodate multiple inputs and outputs using a crossbar array design, potentially nearing the energy efficiency observed in biological systems.

13 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (9)

• Advances in the Physics of Magnetic Skyrmions and Perspective for Technology
• Additive interfacial chiral interaction in multilayers for stabilization of small individual skyrmion at room temperature
• Magneto-ionic Control of Interfacial Magnetism
• Magnetic skyrmion-based synaptic devices
• Spin-Based Neuron Model with Domain Wall Magnets as Synapse
• MorphIC: A 65-nm 738k-Synapse/mm${}^2$ Quad-Core Binary-Weight Digital Neuromorphic Processor with Stochastic Spike-Driven Online Learning
• All-Electrical Skyrmionic Bits in a Chiral Magnetic Tunnel Junction
• A Nanoscale Room-Temperature Multilayer Skyrmionic Synapse for Deep Spiking Neural Networks
• Control of the magnetic anisotropy in multi-repeat Pt/Co/Al heterostructures using magneto-ionic gating

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Fractional Skyrmion Tubes in Chiral-Interfaced Three-Dimensional Magnetic Nanowires
• Nanofluidic logic based on chiral skyrmion flows
• Voltage-controlled topological spin textures in the monolayer limit
• Correlating on-the-fly Electrical and Optical Skyrmion Readout
• Giant orbital magnetoresistance in the antiferromagnet CoO driven by dynamic orbital angular momentum interaction
• Symmetry-Tunable Skyrmions and Merons in Magnetic Nanodisks via Spatially Engineered Anisotropy
• Antiferromagnetic Skyrmion Scattering Revealed by Direct Time-Resolved Imaging of Collective Dynamics