Reconfigurable magnetoelectronic circuits for threshold logic

Magnetoelectronic devices, which combine ferromagnetic materials with conventional silicon structures, o er the potential to add non-volatile storage to electronic systems, eliminating their vulnerability to data loss due to power supply interruptions. We present a set of circuits, based on the Hybrid Hall E ect device, that combine logic with non-volatile storage. These circuits can be con gured on a cycleby-cycle basis to compute di erent functions of their inputs, store their outputs inde nitely even in the absence of system power, and can be easily integrated into CMOS systems to provide non-volatile operation without requiring additional supply voltages or other global signals. They exploit the properties of the Hybrid Hall E ect device to e ciently implement threshold logic functions and thereby reduce the number of gates required to implement most Boolean expressions. In this paper, we describe our recon gurable magnetoelectronic circuits and the interfaces that make them compatible with CMOS systems. The results presented are based on data from fabricated experimental devices, and we discuss how they can be expected to improve as devices scale to nanometer dimensions. Finally, we consider how magnetoelectronic circuits might be integrated into system designs to deliver high performance while tolerating power supply interruptions. Copyright ? 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.