A Boolean OR gate implemented with an optoelectronic switching memristor

Abstract

Nonvolatile stateful logic computing in memristors has tremendous potential to realize the aggregation combined with information storage and processing in the same physical location for breaking the von Neumann bottleneck of traditional computing architecture. Here, we fabricate a monoclinic BiVO4 film with a bandgap of Eg ≈ 2.4 eV and a nanoporous morphology as the memristor storage medium. The device, consisting of a TiN/BiVO4/fluorine-doped tin oxide structure, demonstrated excellent electric- and light-control of resistive switching performance. A Boolean “OR” gate is shown to be operable with an electrical signal and light signal as inputs and the resistance as output. According to the I–V fitting results, the conduction mechanism of the memristor is inferred to be trapped-assisted tunneling model. The large photocurrent is due to trapped electrons in the defects which will be released to the conduction band. The nanoporous structure and suitable bandgap are also beneficial to light absorption and electron detrapping for enlarging photocurrent. This work lays the device foundation for electrical–optical controlling logic functions in memristor devices.