2026-05-15 東京大学
光電変換素子と反強磁性体スイッチング素子を組み合わせた不揮発量子スイッチングの模式図
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/press/pr2026-05-15-001
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt3136
反強磁性体に基づくピコ秒超低省電力スイッチングデバイス Picosecond ultralow-power switching device based on an antiferromagnet
Hanshen Tsai, Takuya Matsuda, Kouta Kondou, Kotaro Shimizu, […] , and Satoru Nakatsuji
Science Published:14 May 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt3136
Editor’s summary
Nonvolatile switching devices are an important component of data-processing architectures. However, increasing the processing speeds beyond the nanosecond scale while keeping the switching power low has been challenging. One candidate system predicted to combine these favorable properties is antiferromagnetic spintronic devices. Tsai et al. demonstrate a device exhibiting ultra-low-power bidirectional electric switching at picosecond timescales, which consists of layers of the chiral antiferromagnet Mn3Sn and the heavy metal tantalum. The switching power consumption was considerably lower compared with that in ferromagnet or heavy metal bilayer systems. —Jelena Stajic
Abstract
Developing an ultrafast and energy-efficient nonvolatile switching device may pose a strong impact on emerging computing architectures. However, processing speed has plateaued in the nanosecond regime, as further acceleration demands excessively large write power. We demonstrate ultralow power in picosecond switching using heterostructures of the antiferromagnet Mn3Sn and heavy metal tantalum, which exhibit spin-orbit torque switching by electrical pulses as short as 40 picoseconds. Power consumption in the picosecond regime is several orders of magnitude lower than in ferromagnetic counterparts owing to efficient angular momentum transfer. Compared with previously reported picosecond switching devices, our ultralow-power switching device realizes much less heating, higher endurance, and switching using photocurrent. These results pave the way to ultrafast nonvolatile memory and efficient optical-to-electrical conversion technology.
