CHIPMuNCS

CHIPMuNCS is a frontier research project at the interface between nanomagnetism, spintronics, and nonlinear dynamics. It is motivated by the premise that the rich behaviour of nonlinear systems, in particular chaos, can be leveraged for alternative paradigms for computing and information processing. The primary objective is to establish the utility and feasibility of the nanocontact vortex oscillator, a nanoscale spintronic device, as a universal building block for chaos-based information processing by demonstrating three technological functionalities: random number generation, secure communications, and nonlinear computing. The underlying idea is that the complexity required for computation and possible cognitive functions can be generated within a single system, without the need of a complex array of interconnected subsystems. The project addresses the pressing challenges raised by the current information revolution, with the exponential growth of digital data, spurred by the internet, the ubiquity of “smartphones”, and unprecedented scientific advances in data-intensive fields from genetics to social networks. Identifying useful patterns amongst such vast oceans of bits is a timely and formidable challenge for current technologies. The project builds upon the recent discovery by consortium members of novel commensurate and chaotic phases in the nanocontact vortex oscillator. The oscillator is based on the self-sustained gyration of a magnetic vortex around a nanocontact, where additional periodic reversals of the vortex core can induce a chaotic state. While some features of this kind of spin-torque nano-oscillator have been well-studied, there remains many open questions, both fundamental and applied in nature, such as the role of thermal noise, the conditions for core reversal, and the complexity of the dynamics from the point of view of information theory. For example, the utility of the chaotic vortex oscillator as an entropy source is an open problem that is important for random number generation. The scientific objectives of CHIPMuNCS will be met by addressing three important questions related to spin-transfer— induced magnetic vortex dynamics on the nanoscale, namely the nature of the chaotic state, how it can be controlled through external forcing, delayed feedback, and mutual synchronisation, and how these features can be exploiting for information processing applications. This will be achieved by combining: • High-performance vortex oscillators by using advanced materials like Heusler alloys and multi-terminal device geometries; • High performance and robust simulation tools and time series analysis methods; • State-of-the-art experiments involving high-frequency electrical characterisation in order to quantify the chaotic vortex dynamics in device geometries. By bringing controllable chaotic devices to the nanoscale, the project will stimulate a paradigm shift toward alternative information processing schemes using nanomagnetism and spintronics.