The topologically protected magnetic spin configurations known as skyrmions offer promising applications due to their stability, mobility and localization. In this work, we emphasize how to leverage the thermally driven dynamics of an ensemble of such particles to perform computing tasks. We propose a device employing a skyrmion gas to reshuffle a random signal into an uncorrelated copy of itself. This is demonstrated by modelling the ensemble dynamics in a collective coordinate approach where skyrmion-skyrmion and skyrmion-boundary interactions are accounted for phenomenologically. Our numerical results are used to develop a proof-of-concept for an energy efficient (∼μW) device with a low area imprint (∼μm2). Whereas its immediate application to stochastic computing circuit designs will be made apparent, we argue that its basic functionality, reminiscent of an integrate-and-fire neuron, qualifies it as a novel bio-inspired building block.
@article{arxiv.1701.07750,
title = {Skyrmion Gas Manipulation for Probabilistic Computing},
author = {Daniele Pinna and Flavio Abreu Araujo and Joo-Von Kim and Vincent Cros and Damien Querlioz and Perre Bessiere and Jacques Droulez and Julie Grollier},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.07750},
year = {2018}
}