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Creators/Authors contains: "Sun, Jonathan Z"

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  1. Abstract We review two magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) approaches for compact, low-power, CMOS-integrated true random number generation (TRNG). The first employs passive-read, easy-plane superparamagnetic MTJs (sMTJs) that generate thermal-fluctuation-driven bitstreams at 0.5–1 Gb s−1per device. The second uses MTJs with magnetically stable free layers, operated with stochastic write pulses to achieve switching probabilities of about 0.5 (i.e. write error rates of 0.5 ), achieving 0.1  Gb s−1per device; we refer to these as stochastic-write MTJs (SW-MTJs). Randomness from both approaches has been validated using the NIST SP 800-22r1a test suites. sMTJ approach uses a read-only cell with low power and can be compatible with most advanced CMOS nodes, while SW-MTJs leverage standard CMOS MTJ process flows, enabling co-integration with embedded spin-transfer torque magnetic random access memory. Both approaches can achieve deep sub-0.01 µm2MTJ footprints and offer orders-of-magnitude better energy efficiency than CPU/GPU-based generators, enabling placement near logic for high-throughput random bitstreams for probabilistic computing, statistical modeling, and cryptography. In terms of performance, sMTJs generally suit applications requiring very high data-rate random bits near logic processors, such as probabilistic computing or large-scale statistical modeling. Whereas SW-MTJs are attractive option for edge-oriented microcontrollers, providing entropy sources for computing or cryptographic enhancement. We highlight the strengths, limitations, and integration challenges of each approach, emphasizing the need to reduce device-to-device variability in sMTJs—particularly by mitigating magnetostriction-induced in-plane anisotropy—and to improve temporal stability in SW-MTJs for robust, large-scale deployment. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 24, 2026