Description du sujet de thèse

Superparamagnetic tunnel junctions are new spintronic components, i.e., that exploit both the electrical and magnetic properties of electrons, which naturally switch between two binary states under the effect of thermal noise, in a perfectly random manner. Such components can generate random bits with very low energy consumption. They can also serve as a basic building block for "Ising machines", an emerging computational model, inspired by the structure of magnetic materials, particularly suited for certain optimization problems and machine learning.

An electronic system based on superparamagnetic tunnel junctions cannot function exclusively on these components, which are passive: it also requires active elements, typically MOSFET-type transistors from CMOS technology. This aim is to design CMOS circuits that need to be associated with superparamagnetic tunnel junctions to build low power consumption Ising machines. This project requires the design of different types of circuits: analog for controlling the junctions, mixed analog/digital to bridge the gap between the junction domain and the purely digital CMOS functions ensuring communication between the different basic building blocks of the system. These circuits will be evaluated based on process, voltage and temperature variabilities, and by benchmarking with alternative approaches using or not using spintronics.

Contexte de travail

The thesis will take place in the INTEGNANO team of the Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, focused on an integrative and multidisciplinary approach to the development of new devices based on charge and spin. We combine skills in nano-magnetism and electronics, material science, circuit design, and innovative computing architectures. Our research interests range from the study of fundamental phenomena to the design of new devices with potential for technological applications in information processing and storage.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.