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Neuromorphic weighted sums with magnetic skyrmions

Nature Electronics volume 8, pages 204–214 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Integrating magnetic skyrmions into neuromorphic computing could help improve hardware efficiency and computational power. However, developing a scalable implementation of the weighted sum of neuron signals—a core operation in neural networks—has remained a challenge. Here we show that weighted sum operations can be performed in a compact, biologically inspired manner by using the non-volatile and particle-like characteristics of magnetic skyrmions that make them easily countable and summable. The skyrmions are electrically generated in numbers proportional to an input with an efficiency given by a non-volatile weight. The chiral particles are then directed using localized current injections to a location in which their presence is quantified through non-perturbative electrical measurements. Our experimental demonstration, which currently has two inputs, can be scaled to accommodate multiple inputs and outputs using a crossbar-array design, potentially nearing the energy efficiency observed in biological systems.

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Fig. 1: Skyrmionic weighted sum building blocks.
Fig. 2: Controlled nucleation of magnetic skyrmions at a notch using current pulses as inputs and weight fine-tuning.
Fig. 3: Non-perturbative electrical detection of the number of skyrmions using thin Ta electrodes.
Fig. 4: Weighted sum in a device composed of two parallel multilayer tracks.
Fig. 5: Characteristics of a scaled neuromorphic computing device.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13988409 (ref. 60). Other relevant data are available from the corresponding authors on request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Horizon 2020 Framework Program of the European Commission under FET-Proactive Grant SKYTOP (no. 824123), by the European Research Council advanced grant GrenaDyn (reference no. 101020684), by the EU project SkyANN (reference no. 101135729) and from a France 2030 government grant managed by the French National Research Agency (grant no. ANR-22-EXSP-0002 PEPR SPIN CHIREX).

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  1. Tristan da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes

    Present address: Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Albert Fert, CNRS, Thales, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau, France

    Tristan da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes, Yanis Sassi, Dédalo Sanz-Hernández, Sachin Krishnia, Sophie Collin, Marie-Blandine Martin, Pierre Seneor, Vincent Cros, Julie Grollier & Nicolas Reyren

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  1. Tristan da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes
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Contributions

M.-B.M., P.S., V.C., J.G. and N.R. conceived the project. N.R., D.S.-H., Y.S. and T.d.C.S.C.G. designed the measurement procedure. S.C., Y.S. and T.d.C.S.C.G. grew the multilayer films and Ta electrodes. T.d.C.S.C.G. patterned the samples, acquired the magneto-optic Kerr effect and transport data, treated and analysed the data with support from Y.S., D.S.-H., S.K., M.-B.M., P.S., V.C., J.G. and N.R. T.d.C.S.C.G., V.C., J.G. and N.R. prepared the manuscript. All authors discussed and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tristan da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes, Vincent Cros, Julie Grollier or Nicolas Reyren.

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Supplementary Notes 1–11, Figs. 1–13 and discussion.

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da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes, T., Sassi, Y., Sanz-Hernández, D. et al. Neuromorphic weighted sums with magnetic skyrmions. Nat Electron 8, 204–214 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01303-z

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