Researchers at the University of Tokyo say they have demonstrated a non-volatile magnetic switching device capable of flipping states in just 40 picoseconds while consuming unusually little power and generating far less heat than many previous ultrafast switching approaches — potentially addressing one of the biggest problems facing modern AI hardware: the enormous energy and cooling demands created by moving and storing data.
The researchers built the device using an antiferromagnetic material called manganese-tin (Mn₃Sn), then showed that ultrashort electrical pulses could reliably switch its magnetic state while retaining the stored information after power removal. They also demonstrated similar switching using ultrafast photocurrent pulses generated from a telecom-band laser and photodiode, effectively converting optical signals directly into memory-writing electrical pulses.
