Phase-Change Controlled Magnetic Tunnel Junction for Multifunctional In-Sensor Computing
Chen Lv, Shen Li, Wei Yang, Guodong Wei, Zhi Li, Xiaoyang Lin, Weisheng Zhao
Abstract
The integration of data sensing and processing within a single device is of great significance in the future intelligent application scenarios due to its advantages in reducing power consumption and time delay. Nevertheless, most of the current investigations focus on sensing a single type of external stimuli, which is a hindrance for an accurate and complete sensing and processing of information. Here, based on the combination of optically controlled phase-change material (vanadium dioxide, VO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ) and magnetoresistive sensing component (magnetic tunnel junction, MTJ), a device with in-sensor computing ability of optical and magnetic signals is demonstrated. To ensure the functionality integration, the thickness of VO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> is optimized in terms of resistance matching with MTJ. The device exhibits multiresistance states under the stimuli of light illumination and magnetic field. Further, the reconfigurable logic functions of the two types of captured information are achieved, realizing a multifunctional sensory processing integrated system. This work could pave the way for high-performance intelligent sensing and the Internet of Things.