Laboratoire Albert Fert
and Centre de Nanosciences et de nanotechnologies
The Laboratoire Albert Fert is a joint research lab whose main legal bodies are the CNRS and Thales, and since 2021 the Université Paris-Saclay as a secondary legal body. It is located on the Thales Research and Technology site in Palaiseau, France. The Laboratoire Albert Fert’s research focuses on various areas of condensed matter physics, i.e. spintronics, oxytronics, superconductivity and, more recently, neuromorphic physics, in which the laboratory is at the forefront in France and internationally.
This fundamental research is also aimed at developing applications and stimulating innovation in information and communication technologies, unconventional approaches to computing and beyond CMOS logic, and quantum technologies.
The Centre for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (C2N) is a joint research unit between the CNRS and Université Paris-Saclay. It was founded on the 1stJune 2016 by merging two former laboratories, the Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures (LPN) and the Institut d’Electronique Fondamentale (IEF). C2N brings together the former teams of the IEF and the LPN and gathers critical forces on key lines of research. It meets two principal and inseparable objectives: (1) To establish a flagship laboratory for research in nanoscience and nanotechnology; (2) To provide a large technology facility to the Plateau de Saclay and the Ile-de-France region, open to all academic and industrial players in the field, especially those from the Paris region.
Competence relevant to
SkyANN
For SkyANN, the Laboratoire Albert Fert brings its state-of-the-art knowledge about chiral magnetic textures and spin-charge/orbit interconversion. We study the static and dynamic properties of various chiral magnetic textures such as magnetic skyrmions and, more recently, three-dimensional textures like cocoons. We draw on our expertise in building magnetic multilayers and engineering their magnetic properties, including their anisotropy, dipolar couplings and chiral interface interaction.
We use various imaging techniques combined with transport measurements and simulations to characterize the static and dynamic properties of chiral textures. In addition to these fundamental studies, we are seeking to optimize them for use in devices such as neuro-inspired components.
At C2N, we use magneto-ionics, controlling magnetism using a gate voltage, which is not only used to generate charge accumulation at the surface of the magnetic materials, but also to move ions inside a neighboring oxide layer. This produces large changes in the magnetic properties which are also non-volatile, since the effects are related to ionic rearrangement and bond formation (oxidation/reduction) under voltage. Non-volatility and a large amplitude of the gating effects is what makes magneto-ionics particularly attractive for spintronics applications, where dynamic reconfiguration of magnetic properties can be of great interest. Magneto-ionics gating can also greatly modify parameters like the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI), as first demonstrated by our group, which is crucial for the control of magnetic chiral structures as skyrmions.
Role in the
project
CNRS is work package leader for WP1, i.e. the optimization of magnetic multilayers for hosting multiple different skyrmionic particles, magneto-ionic gating control of nucleation probabilities, and how to tune the weights in the sought neuromorphic circuits. Of course, CNRS is also active in all the other WP, notably as they recently demonstrated the first skyrmionic weighted sum hardware circuit.
Contact persons
Nicolas Reyren, nicolas.reyren@cnrs-thales.fr
CNRS: Laboratoire Albert
Fert and Centre de Nanosciences et de nanotechnologies
The Laboratoire Albert Fert is a joint research lab whose main legal bodies are the CNRS and Thales, and since 2021 the Université Paris-Saclay as a secondary legal body. It is located on the Thales Research and Technology site in Palaiseau, France. The Laboratoire Albert Fert’s research focuses on various areas of condensed matter physics, i.e. spintronics, oxytronics, superconductivity and, more recently, neuromorphic physics, in which the laboratory is at the forefront in France and internationally.
This fundamental research is also aimed at developing applications and stimulating innovation in information and communication technologies, unconventional approaches to computing and beyond CMOS logic, and quantum technologies.
The Centre for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (C2N) is a joint research unit between the CNRS and Université Paris-Saclay. It was founded on the 1stJune 2016 by merging two former laboratories, the Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures (LPN) and the Institut d’Electronique Fondamentale (IEF). C2N brings together the former teams of the IEF and the LPN and gathers critical forces on key lines of research. It meets two principal and inseparable objectives: (1) To establish a flagship laboratory for research in nanoscience and nanotechnology; (2) To provide a large technology facility to the Plateau de Saclay and the Ile-de-France region, open to all academic and industrial players in the field, especially those from the Paris region.
Competence relevant to
SkyANN
For SkyANN, the Laboratoire Albert Fert brings its state-of-the-art knowledge about chiral magnetic textures and spin-charge/orbit interconversion. We study the static and dynamic properties of various chiral magnetic textures such as magnetic skyrmions and, more recently, three-dimensional textures like cocoons. We draw on our expertise in building magnetic multilayers and engineering their magnetic properties, including their anisotropy, dipolar couplings and chiral interface interaction. We use various imaging techniques combined with transport measurements and simulations to characterize the static and dynamic properties of chiral textures. In addition to these fundamental studies, we are seeking to optimize them for use in devices such as neuro-inspired components.
At C2N, we use magneto-ionics, controlling magnetism using a gate voltage, which is not only used to generate charge accumulation at the surface of the magnetic materials, but also to move ions inside a neighboring oxide layer. This produces large changes in the magnetic properties which are also non-volatile, since the effects are related to ionic rearrangement and bond formation (oxidation/reduction) under voltage. Non-volatility and a large amplitude of the gating effects is what makes magneto-ionics particularly attractive for spintronics applications, where dynamic reconfiguration of magnetic properties can be of great interest. Magneto-ionics gating can also greatly modify parameters like the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI), as first demonstrated by our group, which is crucial for the control of magnetic chiral structures as skyrmions.
Role in the
project
CNRS is work package leader for WP1, i.e. the optimization of magnetic multilayers for hosting multiple different skyrmionic particles, magneto-ionic gating control of nucleation probabilities, and how to tune the weights in the sought neuromorphic circuits. Of course, CNRS is also active in all the other WP, notably as they recently demonstrated the first skyrmionic weighted sum hardware circuit.
Contact persons
Nicolas Reyren
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