A nonvolatile magnon field effect transistor at room temperature

Information industry is one of the major drivers of the world economy. Its rapid growth, however, leads to severe heat problem which strongly hinders further development. This calls for a non-charge-based technology. Magnon, capable of transmitting spin information without electron movement, holds tremendous potential in post-Moore era. Given the cornerstone role of the field effect transistor in modern electronics, creating its magnonic equivalent is highly desired but remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a nonvolatile three-terminal lateral magnon field effect transistor operating at room temperature. The device consists of a ferrimagnetic insulator (Y₃Fe₅O₁₂) deposited on a ferroelectric material [Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.7Ti_0.3O₃ or Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃], with three Pt stripes patterned on Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ as the injector, gate, and detector, respectively. The magnon transport in Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ can be regulated by the gate voltage pulses in a nonvolatile manner with a high on/off ratio. Our findings provide a solid foundation for designing energy-efficient magnon-based devices.