Room Temperature Magnetic Quantum Cellular Automata

• DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5457.1466
• Publication Date: 2002-07-27T09:40:21Z
• Authors: R. P. Cowburn; M. E. Welland
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

All computers process information electronically. A processing method based on magnetism is reported here, in which networks of interacting submicrometer magnetic dots are used to perform logic operations and propagate information at room temperature. The logic states are signaled by the magnetization direction of the single-domain magnetic dots; the dots couple to their nearest neighbors through magnetostatic interactions. Magnetic solitons carry information through the networks, and an applied oscillating magnetic field feeds energy into the system and serves as a clock. These networks offer a several thousandfold increase in integration density and a hundredfold reduction in power dissipation over current microelectronic technology.