Ran Zhang
Postdoctoral Researcher
Max Planck Institute of
Microstructure Physics
NISE Department · Halle, Germany
Exploring the frontiers of spintronics, magnetic tunnel junctions, and probabilistic computing
Research
My work focuses on engineering nanoscale spintronic devices — particularly magnetic tunnel junctions and racetrack structures — into practical hardware for probabilistic computing, reconfigurable logic, and stochastic optimization.
Education & Career
Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle
11.2025 – Present
Fraunhofer IPMS-CNT, Dresden
09.2023 – 08.2024
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
09.2021 – 06.2025
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
09.2020 – 06.2025
Shandong University
09.2016 – 06.2020
Selected Papers
Back propagation eased by spintronic-hardware-sampled probabilistic gradient of activation function
Newton, 100520 (2026)
Probabilistic greedy algorithm solver using magnetic tunneling junctions for traveling salesman problem
Nature Communications (2025)
Reconfigurable Boolean logic gates with a single spin-orbit-torque magnetic tunnel junction
Physical Review Applied 24(3), 034079 (2025)
Drift-resilient magnetic-tunnel-junction random-number generator via hybrid control strategies
Physical Review Applied 23(5), 054073 (2025)
Projects
A GPU-accelerated micromagnetics simulator running entirely in the browser. Solves the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation on a finite-difference grid using WebGPU compute shaders — zero installation, zero server, just open the page and start exploring spintronic devices.
A browser-based statistical test suite for physical random number generators. Implements the full NIST SP 800-22 battery with real-time visualization — no install, no server, just drag-and-drop your bitstream.
Phenomenological simulation of a 16×16 neuromorphic crossbar array with 1T-CAS cells, integrating VO₂ Mott neurons and domain-wall MTJ spintronic memory for spiking neural networks.
Publications
Showing 10 of 18 publications
Back propagation eased by spintronic-hardware-sampled probabilistic gradient of activation function
Xu, Y., Zhang, R., Wan, C., Xia, S., Li, X., Liu, S., Xiong, S., Kong, D., Yu, G., Han, X.
Newton, 100520 (2026)
Feature Disentangling and Combination Implemented by Spin–Orbit Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Li, X., Xu, Y., Wan, C., Zhang, R., Hindenberg, M., Hoffmann, R., Liu, S., Zhang, T., Xiong, S., Kong, D., Xia, J., Gao, F., Nie, Z., Kämpfe, T., Yu, G., Han, X.
Advanced Intelligent Systems, e202500961 (2026)
Probabilistic greedy algorithm solver using magnetic tunneling junctions for traveling salesman problem
Zhang, R., Li, X., Wan, C., Hoffmann, R., Hindenberg, M., Xu, Y., Liu, S., Kong, D., Xiong, S., He, S., Vardar, A., Dai, Q., Gong, J., Sun, Y., Zheng, Z., Kämpfe, T., Yu, G., Han, X.
Nature Communications (2025)
Reconfigurable Boolean logic gates with a single spin-orbit-torque magnetic tunnel junction
Zhang, R., Wan, C., Zhao, M., Li, X., Xu, Y., Liu, S., Kong, D., Xiong, S., Yu, G., Han, X.
Physical Review Applied 24(3), 034079 (2025)
Drift-resilient magnetic-tunnel-junction random-number generator via hybrid control strategies
Zhang, R., Wan, C., Xu, Y., Li, X., Hoffmann, R., Hindenberg, M., Liu, S., Kong, D., Xiong, S., He, S., Vardar, A., Dai, Q., Gong, J., Sun, Y., Zheng, Z., Kämpfe, T., Yu, G., Han, X.
Physical Review Applied 23(5), 054073 (2025)
The analysis of spin current source in current-induced switching of the magnetization in T-type magnetic structures
Liu, S., Wan, C., Xia, J., Zhang, R., Li, J., Li, X., Gao, F., Xu, Y., Davydenko, A. V., Stebliy, M. E., Ognev, A. V., Samardak, A. S., Yu, G., Han, X.
Applied Physics Letters 127(6), 062405 (2025)
Integrating P-Bits in MTJs: A Bridge to Efficient Stochastic Computing
Laleni, N., Ranjbar, S., Zhang, R., Tsiougkos, A., Yadav, N., Pavlidis, V., Kämpfe, T.
2025 14th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies (MOCAST), 1--4 (2025)
Bayesian Reasoning Enabled by Spin-Orbit Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Xu, Y., Li, X., Wan, C., Zhang, R., He, B., Liu, S., Xia, J., Kong, D., Xiong, S., Yu, G., Han, X.
arXiv (2025)
Restricted Boltzmann Machines Implemented by Spin–Orbit Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Li, X., Wan, C., Zhang, R., Zhao, M., Xiong, S., Kong, D., Luo, X., He, B., Liu, S., Xia, J., Yu, G., Han, X.
Nano Letters 24(18), 5420--5428 (2024)
Probability‐Distribution‐Configurable True Random Number Generators Based on Spin‐Orbit Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Zhang, R., Li, X., Zhao, M., Wan, C., Luo, X., Liu, S., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., Yu, G., Han, X.
Advanced Science 11(23), 2402182 (2024)
Projects
Academic tools and web applications I'm building
Background
Education
Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
09.2020 – 06.2025
M.S. in Computer Information Technology
Northern Arizona University (Remote)
10.2022 – 08.2023
B.Sc. in Physics
Shandong University
09.2016 – 06.2020
Experience
Postdoctoral Researcher
CurrentMax Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle
11.2025 – Present
Visiting PhD Researcher
Fraunhofer IPMS-CNT, Dresden
09.2023 – 08.2024
Research Assistant
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
09.2021 – 06.2025
Skills
Programming
Web Development
Hardware & Test Engineering
Lab Techniques
Simulation & CAD
Awards
- 2023 Graduation with Distinction — Northern Arizona University
- 2023 IOP Director's Scholarship Award — CAS
- 2022 IOP Director's Scholarship Award — CAS
- 2018 National Endeavor Scholarship — Shandong University
- 2017 Physics Talent Scholarship — Shandong University
Get in Touch
Feel free to reach out for collaborations, discussions, or questions about my research.
NISE Department
Find Me Online
Academic profiles and research networks