Scientists have created the memory of tomorrow – on magnetic vortices with imitation of brain synapses

The exponential growth of information flow and advances in neural networks and artificial intelligence require new and unusual memory, as the requirements for storing and processing data have outgrown current technologies. There are many candidates for this role, and one of them could be the magnetic vortex memory created in Barcelona, ​​which, in addition, successfully imitates the synapses of the human brain, paving the way for neuromorphic computing.

Image source: AI generation Grok 3/3DNews

The development was reported by researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), who published an article in the journal Nature Communications. The scientists abandoned the idea of ​​using continuous thin-film coatings, as, for example, happens in the production of hard drives. Instead, they created an array of nanometer-sized dots. Each dot is a kind of memory cell, the bit depth of which can be significantly greater than the two classic 0 and 1.

The principle of the new development is that the cell state can be controlled without a current circuit, as is the case with classic magnetoresistive memory. Instead, the cell is controlled by voltage (magnetic field), which dramatically reduces the memory’s energy consumption and, as a result, its heat generation.

Image source: Nature Communications 2025

Nanodots are made from an initially paramagnetic (weakly magnetic) material FeCoN (a compound of iron, cobalt and nitrogen). When voltage is applied to the electrodes under the nanodots, an electromagnetic field is created, and nitrogen ions are pushed into the surrounding electrolyte material. The material is thus transformed into a ferromagnet with a magnetization gradient growing from the bottom up.

After a certain threshold, the magnetic moments of the atoms in the nanodots form a stable magnetic vortex structure (Vortion). This corresponds to the transfer of the nanodot to a certain state or, more simply, leads to the recording of the cell. Scientists have become convinced that by adjusting the time of voltage supply to the electrode, it is possible to achieve several magnetic states of the vortices, thereby increasing the bit capacity of data storage in each nanodot.

The most interesting application of this new type of memory promises to be its use in neuromorphic computing. Similar to the data stored in a synapse in the human brain, magnetic vortex memory can store both a weight and an amplitude, opening the way to new types of memory computing.