Activity in field-coupled nanomagnet arrays

Abstract

Magnetic-field coupling emerges as a new possibility for nanoscale device integration. This paper investigates power flow between field-coupled single-domain nanomagnets. Using an equivalent-circuit formulation, we demonstrate that nanomagnet circuits can perform power gain in an entirely magnetic way, i.e. they can direct power from an external magnetic pumping field into a magnetic signal path. It was recently shown that networks of coupled nanomagnets can realize Boolean logic operations. This, combined with our finding that they also are active devices, promises the possibility of building complex all-magnetic digital and analog circuits. We also outline an analogy between the operating principles of field-coupled nanomagnet circuits and previous work on magnetic amplifiers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.