Spintronic wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are a key aspect of emerging smart technologies, and whilst the diverse range of potential applications leads to a range of system requirements, one key aspect is the power consumption of the sensor node. In this report we show how the sensitivity of the radio-frequency emission of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) allows them to replace the traditional sensor-processor-transmitter CMOS paradigm with a single MTJ nano-device. Furthermore we demonstrate how a nominally identical MTJ can also be used to wirelessly detect the emitted signal, which is extremely challenging for conventional CMOS technologies due to its large frequency tunability.