The human brain works more efficiently and saves more energy than any computer. It processes signals dynamically. Neuro-inspired computers mimic these dynamic structures, but so far mainly through software solutions. Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now presented a promising hardware development.
They exploit the fact that oscillating magnetic vortices in nanodiscs can show similar activity patterns to nerve cells communicating with each other in the brain. Using ion irradiation, the team succeeded in manipulating the disks in such a way that the vortices can send and receive signals at more than one frequency for the first time. Using state-of-the-art electron beam lithography, clean room facilities and precise ion bombardment at the HZDR's Ion Beam Centre, two distinct areas were created in the discs with different degrees of magnetization and thus different resonance frequencies (see image). The artificial synapses and neurons can then transmit on several channels, so to speak. This opens up new possibilities for miniaturized artificial intelligence applications.
