THERMOPHYSICAL MODEL OF A MEMRISTOR-DIODE MICROCHIP

Abstract

The most popular models of memristor, based on the principle of formation and breakage of conductive filaments in memristive layer, are applied to consideration of a single memristor. However, consideration of a full-fledged microchip with many memristors may be also interesting. In this case, it is very important to determine the thermal mode of work of the device, in particular, to determine if it needs cooling and how the microchip architecture affects on the nature of heat transfer. At the same time, the proposed model should be quite simple, since modeling of conductive filaments in each memristor greatly complicates work with the model and requires large computational resources. In this paper a thermophysical model of the microchip based on a memristor-diode crossbar created at the REC “Nanotechnology” at Tyumen State University is presented. The model takes into account Joule heating and convective heat transfer. A feature of the model is a simplified determination of memristor state by the resistivity value of memristive layer from the data of the current-voltage characteristic of a real memristor sample. Simulation is carried out in the ANSYS software package. Within the framework of the model, self-consistent electrical and thermophysical problems are solved in a non-stationary setting. The temperature fields and graphs of the temperature versus time were obtained for various operating modes. The results obtained are in good agreement with similar data from other studies published in the literature. The model shows itself well in various operating modes, both in modes with memristor state switching process and without it. The presented model can be used at the design stage to take into account the features of the microchip architecture, which can significantly affect the thermal state of microchip operating modes.