Real-time Multi-instrument Autonomous Discovery of Novel Phase-change Memory Materials

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lee, Chih-Yu, Liang, Haotong, Kim, Ryan, McDannald, Austin, Ocampo, Carlos A Rios, Kusne, A. Gilad, Takeuchi, Ichiro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Lee, Chih-Yu
Liang, Haotong
Kim, Ryan
McDannald, Austin
Ocampo, Carlos A Rios
Kusne, A. Gilad
Takeuchi, Ichiro
author_facet Lee, Chih-Yu
Liang, Haotong
Kim, Ryan
McDannald, Austin
Ocampo, Carlos A Rios
Kusne, A. Gilad
Takeuchi, Ichiro
contents Autonomous labs enable the integration of automated experiment execution, data analysis and decision making. The main challenge remains the integration of diverse data streams from multiple instruments, where the data is often heterogeneous and unsynchronized. The standard learning process of undetermined synthesis-process-structure-property relationships (SPSPR) usually relies on post-experiment analysis after data is fully collected, not during live experiments, and decision making is carried out independently across characterization equipment. Here, we demonstrate the Multi-instrument Autonomous Discovery (MAD) framework -- combining structural property mapping and functional property optimization simultaneously in a closed-loop manner. As an example, we applied MAD to phase change memory (PCM) materials, and, in particular on the Mn-Sb-Te ternary, a previously unexplored materials system for PCM. A multi-output model is employed to merge data from x-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrical resistance measurements simultaneously through a co-regionalization kernel that models the relationship between them. The output probabilistic posterior and uncertainty quantification facilitate decision making with shared knowledge, while the goals are different across tasks. We aimed to maximize the knowledge of crystal structure distribution using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), while in parallel, we find the composition with the maximum resistance value, an important figure of merit for PCM. Leveraging MAD, we found promising electrical PCMs and identified the SPSPR within 25 closed-loop iterations, corresponding to a seven-fold speed-up. The framework opens a new path of study in large-scale autonomous facilities, where future experiments can be run in parallel together, not independently.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_18033
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Real-time Multi-instrument Autonomous Discovery of Novel Phase-change Memory Materials
Lee, Chih-Yu
Liang, Haotong
Kim, Ryan
McDannald, Austin
Ocampo, Carlos A Rios
Kusne, A. Gilad
Takeuchi, Ichiro
Materials Science
Machine Learning
Applied Physics
Autonomous labs enable the integration of automated experiment execution, data analysis and decision making. The main challenge remains the integration of diverse data streams from multiple instruments, where the data is often heterogeneous and unsynchronized. The standard learning process of undetermined synthesis-process-structure-property relationships (SPSPR) usually relies on post-experiment analysis after data is fully collected, not during live experiments, and decision making is carried out independently across characterization equipment. Here, we demonstrate the Multi-instrument Autonomous Discovery (MAD) framework -- combining structural property mapping and functional property optimization simultaneously in a closed-loop manner. As an example, we applied MAD to phase change memory (PCM) materials, and, in particular on the Mn-Sb-Te ternary, a previously unexplored materials system for PCM. A multi-output model is employed to merge data from x-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrical resistance measurements simultaneously through a co-regionalization kernel that models the relationship between them. The output probabilistic posterior and uncertainty quantification facilitate decision making with shared knowledge, while the goals are different across tasks. We aimed to maximize the knowledge of crystal structure distribution using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), while in parallel, we find the composition with the maximum resistance value, an important figure of merit for PCM. Leveraging MAD, we found promising electrical PCMs and identified the SPSPR within 25 closed-loop iterations, corresponding to a seven-fold speed-up. The framework opens a new path of study in large-scale autonomous facilities, where future experiments can be run in parallel together, not independently.
title Real-time Multi-instrument Autonomous Discovery of Novel Phase-change Memory Materials
topic Materials Science
Machine Learning
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18033