Shape-morphing systems, which can perform complex tasks through morphological transformations, are of high interest for future applications in minimally invasive medicine 1,2 , soft robotics 3-6 , active metamaterials 7 , and smart surfaces 8. With current fabrication methods, shapemorphing configurations have been embedded into structural design, for example by spatially distributing heterogeneous materials 9-14 , which cannot be altered once fabricated. The systems are therefore restricted to a single type of transformation that is predetermined by their geometry. In this work, we have developed a strategy to encode multiple shape-morphing information into a micromachine by programming the magnetic configurations of arrays of single-domain nanomagnets on connected panels. By tailoring the switching fields of the nanomagnets, the magnetic configurations can be programmed using a specific sequence of magnetizing fields and, with customised micromachine designs, these magnetic configurations result in specific shape transformations in an applied magnetic field. Using this concept, we have built an assembly of modular units that can be programmed to morph into alphabetic letters, and we have constructed a microscale 'bird' capable of complex behaviours, including 'flapping', 'hovering', 'turning' and 'side-slipping'. This establishes a route for the creation of future intelligent microsystems that are reconfigurable and reprogrammable in situ, and can therefore adapt to complex situations.
Spin-based logic architectures provide nonvolatile data retention, near-zero leakage, and scalability, extending the technology roadmap beyond complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) logic [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . Architectures based on magnetic domain-walls take advantage of fast domain-wall motion, high density, non-volatility, and flexible design in order to process and store information 1,3,14-16 . Such schemes, however, rely on domain-wall manipulation and clocking using an external magnetic field, which limits their implementation in dense, large scale chips. Here we demonstrate a concept to perform allelectric logic operations and cascading in domain-wall racetracks. We exploit the chiral coupling between neighbouring magnetic domains induced by the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction 17-20 to realize a domain-wall inverter, the essential basic building block in all implementations of Boolean logic. We then fabricate reconfigurable NAND and NOR logic gates, and perform operations with current-induced domain-wall motion. Finally, we cascade several NAND gates to build XOR and full adder gates, demonstrating electrical control of magnetic data and device interconnection in logic circuits. Our work provides a viable platform for scalable all-electric magnetic logic, paving the way for memory-in-logic applications.
Magnetically coupled nanomagnets have multiple applications in nonvolatile memories, logic gates, and sensors. The most effective couplings have been found to occur between the magnetic layers in a vertical stack. We achieved strong coupling of laterally adjacent nanomagnets using the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This coupling is mediated by chiral domain walls between out-of-plane and in-plane magnetic regions and dominates the behavior of nanomagnets below a critical size. We used this concept to realize lateral exchange bias, field-free current-induced switching between multistate magnetic configurations as well as synthetic antiferromagnets, skyrmions, and artificial spin ices covering a broad range of length scales and topologies. Our work provides a platform to design arrays of correlated nanomagnets and to achieve all-electric control of planar logic gates and memory devices.
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