Project description
Light-driven magnonics offers hope for ultrafast data processing
The growing demand for faster, energy-efficient data processing has hit a critical limit: the heat generated by current electronics in modern data centres limits performance and contributes to global warming. The technology magnonics uses spin waves (magnons) instead of electricity to process data, preventing heat issues. However, magnonics relies on electric currents to generate these magnons. The ERC-funded SPINWAVE project aims to eliminate this reliance on electricity by using light to generate and manipulate magnons in special materials called antiferromagnets. In such materials, spins precess on picosecond timescales and strongly couple to terahertz electromagnetic waves. By developing theoretical models, numerical solvers and prototypical logic elements, SPINWAVE’s approach could revolutionise magnon-based data processing, achieving unprecedented speed and efficiency.
Objective
Finding a fundamentally new approach for data processing in the fastest and most energy efficient way is a frontier problem for applied physics and technology. The amount of data generated every second is so enormous that the heat produced by modern data centres has already become a serious limitation to further increase their performance. This heating is a result of the Ohmic dissipation of energy unavoidable in conventional electronics. At present, the data industry lacks a solution for this problem, which in future may contribute greatly to the global warming and energy crisis.
An emerging alternative approach is to employ spin waves (magnons) to realize waveform-based computation, which is free from electronic Joule heating. However, the present realization of this approach, called magnonics, uses electric currents to generate and modulate magnons. This project aims to replace the electrons with light using antiferromagnetic materials, in which spins precess on a picosecond timescale and strongly couple to electro-magnetic waves. This interdisciplinary approach at the interface between magnetism and photonics not only circumvents Ohmic losses, but simultaneously pushes the operation of magnonics to THz clock-rates. Firstly, we will develop theoretical framework and a numerical solver to describe antiferromagnetic spin dynamics, strongly coupled to electro-magnetic radiation at THz frequencies. Secondly, we will develop prototypical antiferromagnetic logic elements that may have an enormous impact upon future magnon-based information processing technology. These two tasks will be pursued in parallel as the development of the solver will be validated through comparison of the numerical results with the experimental data, while the design of the magnonic logic will be informed by the numerical simulations.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
LA1 4YW LANCASTER
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.