Abstract
Memristive devices have been a hot topic in nanoelectronics for the last two decades in both academia and industry. Originally proposed as digital (binary) nonvolatile random access memories, research in this field was predominantly driven by the search for higher performance solid-state drive technologies (e.g., flash replacement) or higher density memories (storage class memory). However, based on their large dynamic range in resistance with analog-tunability along with complex switching dynamics, memristive devices enable revolutionary novel functions and computing paradigms. We present the prospects, opportunities, and materials challenges of memristive devices in computing applications, both near and far terms. Memristive devices offer at least three main types of novel computing applications: in-memory computing, analog computing, and state dynamics. We will present the status in the understanding of the most common redox-based memristive devices while addressing the challenges that materials research will need to tackle in the future. In order to pave the way toward novel computing paradigms, a rational design of the materials stacks will be required, enabling nanoscale control over the ionic dynamics that gives these devices their variety of capabilities.
Highlights
A hysteretic change in the resistance of binary transition metal oxides, as sketched in Fig. 1(a), was reported already in the 1960s.1,2 Additional research activity started in the late 1990s by Asamitsu et al.3 and Beck et al.4 who observed similar phenomena in complex perovskite-type oxides
Memristive devices exhibit a change between a low resistance state (LRS) and a high resistance state (HRS) which can be interpreted as a switch between a logical “1” and “0,” respectively
While ReRAM technology shows overall favorable scaling down to the single-digit nanometer dimensions of complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOSs) nodes, it has to be clarified if these dimensions may exacerbate the impact of atomic-scale sources of variability
Summary
A hysteretic change in the resistance of binary transition metal oxides, as sketched in Fig. 1(a), was reported already in the 1960s.1,2 Additional research activity started in the late 1990s by Asamitsu et al. and Beck et al. who observed similar phenomena in complex perovskite-type oxides. The greatest interest in this phenomenon was triggered when it was recognized that these resistively switching cells can be described as so-called memristors which had been predicted by Leon Chua as the fourth basic circuit element because of the conceptual symmetry with the resistor, inductor, and capacitor.. The greatest interest in this phenomenon was triggered when it was recognized that these resistively switching cells can be described as so-called memristors which had been predicted by Leon Chua as the fourth basic circuit element because of the conceptual symmetry with the resistor, inductor, and capacitor.6 This concept was later generalized to a broader class of nonlinear, dynamical systems called memristive devices, which describe resistive switching cells more accurately..
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