Reconfigurable Stochastic Neurons Based on Strain Engineered Low Barrier Nanomagnets

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Hauptverfasser: Rahman, Rahnuma, Ganguly, Samiran, Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Rahman, Rahnuma
Ganguly, Samiran
Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
author_facet Rahman, Rahnuma
Ganguly, Samiran
Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
contents Stochastic neurons are efficient hardware accelerators for solving a large variety of combinatorial optimization problems. "Binary" stochastic neurons (BSN) are those whose states fluctuate randomly between two levels +1 and -1, with the probability of being in either level determined by an external bias. "Analog" stochastic neurons (ASNs), in contrast, can assume any state between the two levels randomly (hence "analog") and can perform analog signal processing. They may be leveraged for such tasks as temporal sequence learning, processing and prediction. Both BSNs and ASNs can be used to build efficient and scalable neural networks. Both can be implemented with low (potential energy) barrier nanomagnets (LBMs) whose random magnetization orientations encode the binary or analog state variables. The difference between them is that the potential energy barrier in a BSN LBM, albeit low, is much higher than that in an ASN LBM. As a result, a BSN LBM has a clear double well potential profile, which makes its magnetization orientation assume one of two orientations at any time, resulting in the binary behavior. ASN nanomagnets, on the other hand, hardly have any energy barrier at all and hence lack the double well feature. That makes their magnetizations fluctuate in an analog fashion. Hence, one can reconfigure an ASN to a BSN, and vice-versa, by simply raising and lowering the energy barrier. If the LBM is magnetostrictive, then this can be done with local (electrically generated) strain. Such a reconfiguration capability heralds a powerful field programmable architecture for a p-computer, and the energy cost for this type of reconfiguration is miniscule.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_06168
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reconfigurable Stochastic Neurons Based on Strain Engineered Low Barrier Nanomagnets
Rahman, Rahnuma
Ganguly, Samiran
Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
Emerging Technologies
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Systems and Control
Stochastic neurons are efficient hardware accelerators for solving a large variety of combinatorial optimization problems. "Binary" stochastic neurons (BSN) are those whose states fluctuate randomly between two levels +1 and -1, with the probability of being in either level determined by an external bias. "Analog" stochastic neurons (ASNs), in contrast, can assume any state between the two levels randomly (hence "analog") and can perform analog signal processing. They may be leveraged for such tasks as temporal sequence learning, processing and prediction. Both BSNs and ASNs can be used to build efficient and scalable neural networks. Both can be implemented with low (potential energy) barrier nanomagnets (LBMs) whose random magnetization orientations encode the binary or analog state variables. The difference between them is that the potential energy barrier in a BSN LBM, albeit low, is much higher than that in an ASN LBM. As a result, a BSN LBM has a clear double well potential profile, which makes its magnetization orientation assume one of two orientations at any time, resulting in the binary behavior. ASN nanomagnets, on the other hand, hardly have any energy barrier at all and hence lack the double well feature. That makes their magnetizations fluctuate in an analog fashion. Hence, one can reconfigure an ASN to a BSN, and vice-versa, by simply raising and lowering the energy barrier. If the LBM is magnetostrictive, then this can be done with local (electrically generated) strain. Such a reconfiguration capability heralds a powerful field programmable architecture for a p-computer, and the energy cost for this type of reconfiguration is miniscule.
title Reconfigurable Stochastic Neurons Based on Strain Engineered Low Barrier Nanomagnets
topic Emerging Technologies
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.06168