Ultra-low Power Microwave Oscillators based on Phase Change Oxides as Solid-State Neurons

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel, ultra-low power microwave oscillator based on phase change oxides, demonstrating potential for neuromorphic computing with high frequency and low energy consumption.

Contribution

It introduces a new nanoscale heterostructure design for solid-state neurons that operate efficiently in the microwave regime, enabling collective learning behaviors.

Findings

Operation frequency up to 3 GHz

Power consumption as low as 15 fJ per cycle

Rich coupling dynamics between oscillators

Abstract

Neuro-inspired computing architectures are one of the leading candidates to solve complex, large-scale associative learning problems. The two key building blocks for neuromorphic computing are the synapse and the neuron, which form the distributed computing and memory units. Solid state implementations of these units remain an active area of research. Specifically, voltage or current controlled oscillators are considered a minimal representation of neurons for hardware implementations. Such oscillators should demonstrate synchronization and coupling dynamics for demonstrating collective learning behavior, besides the desirable individual characteristics such as scaling, power, and performance. To this end, we propose the use of nanoscale, epitaxial heterostructures of phase change oxides and oxides with metallic conductivity as a fundamental unit of an ultralow power, tunable electrical oscillator capable of operating in the microwave regime. Our simulations show that optimized heterostructure design with low thermal boundary resistance can result in operation frequency of up to 3 GHz and power consumption as low as 15 fJ/cycle with rich coupling dynamics between the oscillators.