Behavioral Model of Molecular Gap-Type Atomic Switches and Its SPICE Integration

Abstract

Atomic switches can be used in future nanodevices and to realize conceptually novel electronics in new types of computer architecture because of their simple structure, ease of operation, stability, and reliability. The atomic switch is a single solid-state switch with inherent learning abilities that exhibits various nonlinear behaviors with network devices. However, previous studies focused on experiments and nonvolatile memory applications, and studies on the application of the physical properties of the atomic switch in computing were nonexistent. Therefore, we present a simple behavioral model of a molecular gap-type atomic switch that can be included in a simulator. The model was described by three simple equations that reproduced the bistability using a double-well potential and was able to easily be transferred to a simulator using arbitrary numerical values and be integrated into HSPICE. Simulations using the experimental parameters of the proposed atomic switch agreed with the experimental results. This model will allow circuit designers to explore new architectures, contributing to the development of new computing methods.