  There is growing interest in exploring nanomagnetic devices as potential
replacements for electronic devices (e.g. transistors) in digital switching
circuits and systems. A special class of nanomagnetic devices are switched with
electrically generated mechanical strain leading to electrical control of
magnetism. Straintronic magneto-tunneling junctions (s-MTJ) belong to this
category. Their soft layers are composed of two-phase multiferroics comprising
a magnetostrictive layer elastically coupled to a piezoelectric layer. Here, we
show that a single straintronic magneto-tunneling junction with a passive
resistor can act as a microwave oscillator whose traditional implementation
would have required microwave operational amplifiers, capacitors and resistors.
This reduces device footprint and cost, while improving device reliability.
This is an analog application of magnetic devices where magnetic interactions
(interaction between the shape anisotropy, strain anisotropy, dipolar coupling
field and spin transfer torque in the soft layer of the s-MTJ) are exploited to
implement an oscillator with reduced footprint.
