Spinodal Magnetoresistive Memristors

Abstract Spinodal decomposition is a phenomenon that forms self‐assembled microstructures with extremely uniform sizes and shapes. The phenomenon is exploited in the manufacture of alnico magnets, once considered to be the strongest permanent magnets. However, it has hardly been used in spintronics, one of the most important applications of magnetic materials today, because conventional spintronic devices require uniform magnetic thin‐films to achieve a single‐domain state. Here, the study sheds light on how spinodal magnets can be used to create high‐performance spintronics memristors that have synaptic functionalities. Thin‐film spinodal decomposition is used to fabricate an Fe‐Mn‐based storage layer with a nanostructure consisting of Fe‐rich granules in magnetic tunnel junctions. The devices function as nanoscale memristors that offer both long‐term data retention and analog‐like resistance changes controlled by nanosecond voltage pulses and emulate fundamental synaptic functionalities. The results indicate that spinodal MTJs will be a key to realizing nanoscale memristors for energy‐efficient neuromorphic computing.