Spin gated transistors for reprogrammable logic

In spin-orbit coupled magnetic materials the chemical potential depends on the orientation of the magnetisation [1,2]. By making the gate of a field effect transistor magnetic, it is possible to tune the channel conductance not only electrically but also magnetically. We show that these magnetic transistor can be used to realise non-volatile reprogrammable Boolean logic. The non-volatile reconfigurable capability resides in the magnetization-dependent band structure of the magnetic stack. A change in magnetization orientation produces a change in the electrochemical potential, which induces a charge accumulation in the correspondent gate electrode. This is readily sensed by a field-effect device such as standard field-effect transistors or more exotic single-electron transistors. We propose circuits for low power consumption applications that can be magnetically switched between NAND and OR logic functions and between NOR and AND logic functions. [1] J. Wunderlich et al., PRL 97, 077201 (2006) [2] C. Ciccarelli, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 122411(2012)