Journal of Computational Electronics https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-020-01648-6 Spintronic devices: a promising alternative to CMOS devices Prashanth Barla1 · Vinod Kumar Joshi1 · Somashekara Bhat1 Received: 18 September 2020 / Accepted: 26 December 2020 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract The feld of spintronics has attracted tremendous attention recently owing to its ability to ofer a solution for the present-day problem of increased power dissipation in electronic circuits while scaling down the technology. Spintronic-based structures utilize electron’s spin degree of freedom, which makes it unique with zero standby leakage, low power consumption, infnite endurance, a good read and write performance, nonvolatile nature, and easy 3D integration capability with the present-day electronic circuits based on CMOS technology. All these advantages have catapulted the aggressive research activities to employ spintronic devices in memory units and also revamped the concept of processing-in-memory architecture for the future. This review article explores the essential milestones in the evolutionary feld of spintronics. It includes various physi- cal phenomena such as the giant magnetoresistance efect, tunnel magnetoresistance efect, spin-transfer torque, spin Hall efect, voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy efect, and current-induced domain wall/skyrmions motion. Further, various spintronic devices such as spin valves, magnetic tunnel junctions, domain wall-based race track memory, all spin logic devices, and recently buzzing skyrmions and hybrid magnetic/silicon-based devices are discussed. A detailed description of various switching mechanisms to write the information in these spintronic devices is also reviewed. An overview of hybrid magnetic /silicon-based devices that have the capability to be used for processing-in-memory (logic-in-memory) architecture in the immediate future is described in the end. In this article, we have attempted to introduce a brief history, current status, and future prospectus of the spintronics feld for a novice. Keywords Spintronics · Magnetic tunnel junction · Domain wall · All spin logic devices · Skyrmion Abbreviations FL Free layer 2D Two dimensions FM Ferromagnetic 3D Three dimensions GMR Giant magnetoresistance AP Antiparallel HDD Hard disk drive ASL All spin logic IMA In-plane magnetic anisotropy CAD Computer-aided design ISHE Inverse spin Hall efect CPU Central processing unit LIM Logic-in-memory DI-MTJ Double-interface magnetic tunnel junction LLG Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert DMI Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction LUT Look-up table DMTJ Double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction MOSFET Metal-oxide-semiconductor feld-efect DOS Density of state transistor DRAM Dynamic random access memory MRAM Magnetoresistance random access memory DW Domain wall MTJ Magnetic tunnel junction FeRAM Ferroelectric random access memory NM Non-magnetic FIMS Field-induced magnetic switching P Parallel PCRAM Phase change random access memory PL Pinned layer * Vinod Kumar Joshi PMA Perpendicular plane magnetic anisotropy [email protected] RM Racetrack memory 1 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, ReRAM Resistive random access memory Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy SHE Spin Hall efect of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India Vol.:(0123456789)1 3 Journal of Computational Electronics SOI Spin–orbit interaction power, high performance storage, and processing units with SOT Spin–orbit torque the CMOS-only technology [11]. In order to fulfll these SRAM Static random access memory aggressive demands, semiconductor fabs and device engi- STT Spin transfer torque neers have come up with the variants of semiconductors such TAS Thermal-assisted switching as fn feld-efect transistor (FinFET) [12, 13] and carbon TMR Tunnel magnetoresistance nanotube feld-efect transistor (CNTFET) [14, 15] devices. VCMA Voltage controlled magnetic anisotropy Circuits consisting of these devices have promised to reduce the power dissipation to some extent and are widely used at present in ICs. However, there is an urge to fnd alternatives 1 Introduction for the future, which leads to go beyond CMOS technology [10, 16, 17]. The semiconductor industry has been consist- Advancements in the feld of fabrication technology have ently putting down the road map for future technological sustained the downscaling of CMOS technology over the growth by outlining the developments in materials, devices, past fve decades due to which performance of the inte- and systems that can maintain and enhance the storage as grated circuits (ICs) has consistently improved following well as the computational capacity of current ICs [18]. the Moore’s law [1, 2]. In 2020, TSMC (Taiwan Semicon- Spintronics is considered as one of the most promising ductor Manufacturing Company, Limited) is able to success- future technology, in the impending post CMOS era [19–22]. fully manufacture 54 billion MOSFETs to develop Nvidia’s Remarkable advancements in thin-flm fabrication technol- GA100 Ampere GPU, and back in 2019, it has manufactured ogy to build highly interfacial anisotropic magnetic devices 39.54 billion MOSFETs for commercially available AMD’s along with spin transportation and spin manipulation tech- Zen2 processor architecture using 7nm process technology niques has grown enormous interests among researchers. [3]. However, further scaling is becoming extremely dif- In-fact, we are already reaping the benefts of spintronics cult as the transistor size reaches few atomic layers, and the application since 1994, after the introduction of GMR (giant quantum efect starts to kicks-in [4]. This can lead to an magnetoresistance) read heads for hard disk drive (HDD) increased leakage current due to the quantum tunneling and by IBM [23]. Spintronics technology utilizes the spin of an thereby increases the standby power dissipation [5–7]. This electron along with its charge. Spin property is an intrinsic is a serious concern, especially in volatile memory, because form of angular momentum possessed by elementary par- we have to constantly supply power to retain the informa- ticles such as electrons, neutrons, protons, neutrinos, etc. tion stored in it. At the same time, due to a higher oper- [24]. Electron spin orientation and its associated magnetic ating frequency, the dynamic power dissipation increases. moment is employed as a state variable in spintronics, which It also scale-up heat production to its thermal limits. In has all the potential to ofer solutions to the present-day addition, when the technology scales down, the size of the problems faced by the mainstream charge based electronics global interconnects becomes longer, contributing a signif- [25–28]. Unlike in conventional CMOS technology, where cant amount of dynamic power with signal delay [8]. This the stored charge is lost due to leakage current, the spin surge in the standby and dynamic power would increase the and magnetization of an electron are retained indefnitely in operating power requirement in low power VLSI circuits. spintronic devices. This imparts non-volatility nature to the Though scaling down the power supply seems to a solution spintronic device. The main sector where spintronic devices for the increased power dissipation, but it demands strict can make an immediate and huge impact is the burgeoning power monitoring and control circuitry, which must be more big data, AI and, information and communication technol- aggressive and robust at low voltage, and they occupy a sig- ogy’s (ICT) memory domain. Figure 1 shows the present- nifcantly large silicon area. A more efcient technique to day pyramid-like memory structure. The on-chip L1 and L2 reduce standby power dissipation is power gating techniques cache consisting of static random-access memory (SRAM). [9, 10], where idle segments of main memory are partially Though SRAM is faster, it sufers from an increased standby or completely cut-of from the power rails forcing them into power dissipation problem due to leakage current caused by sleep mode. Hence zero standby power dissipation can be scaling of the MOSFETs. Whereas, L3–L4 cache consisting achieved. Prior to that, the information stored in these cir- of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) sufers from cuits (segments of idle main memory) are transferred to non- depreciation of stored charge and requires regular refreshing volatile memory. But this technique is efective only if the circuits, which also increases the power hungriness of these circuit remains in the sleep mode for a long duration of time circuits. Spintronic based magnetic random access mem- to achieve break-even. Also, the data transfer rate between ory (MRAM) such as spin transfer torque (STT) MRAM main and nonvolatile memory is less. At the same time, and spin–orbit torque (SOT) MRAM can easily overcome catering to the needs is becoming increasingly difcult for these problems, owing to its non-volatility, fast read and artifcial intelligence (AI) and big data demands of the low write capability, ease of scalability, and high endurance. 1 3 Journal of Computational Electronics developed using LIM hold supremacy over the conventional CMOS designs due to its lower power dissipation, non-vol- atility, fast reading capability, high density, 3D fabrication adaptability, and infnite endurance [25, 37, 46–48]. On-chip In recent years due to nano-fabrication capabilities, a sub- Operates at higher speed Core Off-chip Consumes higher power branch of spintronics called straintronics being evolved and