Collaborative Research: FET: MEDIUM: PRocessor In Memory Architecture based on Topological Electronics (PRIMATE)

In the “Beyond Moore’s Law” era with increasing edge intelligence, domain-specific computers in heterogeneous fabrics will rule the roost. Algorithms accelerating NP-hard (i.e., provably complex) applications or pre-compute processes that do not demand exact precision will run on tailored hardware. The hardware performance, rather than the algorithmic or software efficiency, may dictate solution speed, energy cost, footprint, and cyber-resilience. Clever hardware innovations for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are no longer a rarity, but they all employ conventional material platforms like silicon, insulators, and compound semiconductors. This proposal will explore a new prospect – the use of quantum materials with exotic properties – to elicit computational activity with unprecedented size, weight, and power (SWaP). Additionally, innovative technologies and methods to train students in lab procedures through virtual platforms (e.g. GoPro video sessions, kid-friendly Minecraft and Roblox design challenges) will be developed and posted on YouTube and Vimeo for the public. Students selected through online exercises will be evaluated using rubrics developed by learning centers at the universities and sent to the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). For the hardware needs of modern computing and artificial intelligence to be “self-contained”, all the data and resources needed to execute a computing task should be available in situ and not have to be fetched from a remote server or “cloud” which may be unreliable or unavailable. One powerful paradigm that satisfies many or all of these requirements is “processor-in-memory (PiM)”, where compute happens right at the memory site. The project plans to design, simulate, fabricate, characterize, and experimentally demonstrate a processor-in-memory architecture implemented by heterogeneously integrating a topological insulator (TI) (a quantum material) with nanomagnets and a piezoelectric material. The nanomagnet enables storage and the piezoelectric enables gating, while the TI brings in both high spin-selectivity and voltage tunable bandgap. The device is projected to perform logic operations and image processing with ultralow footprint and energy cost. A new and powerful PiM-based on a novel genre of materials with unusual quantum mechanical properties will be developed, which can be leveraged to outperform other PiMs in energy consumption, footprint and speed. This PiM will be built, characterized and its superior performance demonstrated. New light will be shed on the physical properties of these quantum materials to stimulate further research to benefit computing hardware. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.