Memristive Behavior Research Articles

Nanosecond Memristor Based on Oxygen Vacancy Engineering in SrTiO3 Single Crystal

AbstractMemristors are of great significance for the construction of memory devices and neuromorphological computing, which need a fast response time for ultrahigh data storage, ultrafast information processing, and efficient neuromorphic computing. Currently, memristors based on perovskite oxide materials generally have a long response time. In this paper, the electroforming‐free memristive behavior based on Ar+ irradiating induced oxygen vacancy modulation in SrTiO3 (STO) has been investigated. The Ag/STO/(Ta/Pt) device shows a stable bipolar resistive switching (RS) characteristic and can realize ultrafast multi‐resistance switching behavior. More importantly, its conductance can be continuously controlled with short pulse on the nanosecond scale to simulate potentiation and depression of synapse, promising potential application in ultra‐fast biological synapse and high‐efficiency training of neural networks. More importantly, the defect engineering strategy used in this work provides more freedom for the design and optimization of versatile memristor devices.

Cu-Doped TiO2− x Nanoscale Memristive Applications in Chaotic Circuit and True Random Number Generator

TiO2 has attracted significant attention as a prototypical material for memristors. In this paper, a Cu-doped TiO2-x nanoscale memristor with structure of Ti/TiO2-x:Cu/Cu is built, whose faithful mathematical model is established based on the memristive behaviors and its switching mechanism. Using this model, a chaotic system is constructed and its complex dynamics are investigated by numerical simulations. Furthermore, hardware experiments are also designed to verify the model in chaotic circuit. The chaotic attractors obtained by simulations and hardware experiments are consistent, demonstrating the reliable performance of the Ti/TiO2-x:Cu/Cu memristor and the correctness of its mathematical model. The processes of memristor from manufacture and mathematical modeling to its verification in a chaotic circuit are presented.

Electric-Controlled Resistive Switching and Different Synaptic Behaviors in p⁺-Si/n-ZnO Heterojunction Memristor

In this study, the resistive switching (RS) and different synaptic behaviors have been observed by controlling the different applied bias voltages in the p <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{+}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -Si/n-ZnO heterojunction memristor. After a big forming voltage, the formation and rupture of the oxygen vacancy filaments model has been proposed, and different migration amount of oxygen ions realizes the multiple RS behaviors. Prior to the electroforming, different synaptic behaviors have been observed dependent on the applied bias voltage based on the oxygen ion migration processes. Under small bias ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$&lt;$</tex-math> </inline-formula> 2.5 V), the oxygen ion of ZnO film first migrates and inters into p/n-junction barrier region, leading to the increasing barrier height/width. With increasing voltage, the electric field will further induce oxygen ion migration and entrance to Si film, leading to the decreasing barrier height/width. Several synaptic functions are demonstrated, such as nonlinear transmission characteristics, long-term memory (LTM)/short-term memory (STM) and “learning-experience” behavior. Multifunction memristive behaviors and these mechanisms research are important to design and realize the multifunction devices for decreasing the manufacturing complexity.

Realization of memristor using multi-stationary point PSM characteristics

ABSTRACT The presence of turning points (stationary points like maxima and minima) in the Parameter-versus-state map (PSM) curve of a memristor can be beneficial in several memristive uses like multi-level logic design, multi-bit memories, and chaos generation circuits. Surprisingly the memristors with these types of PSM curves exhibit multiple crossing points in the transient input v-i contours. In this paper, the memductance model has been derived for such non-linear memristors exhibiting multi-cross-over characteristics. In the presented framework, the coefficients-related condition for the multi-turning point PSM curve has been derived, a necessary condition for the multi-crossing v-i contour. The condition related to the memristor operating parameters has also been reported taking both input signal and initial states into consideration. To realise the derived memductance model corresponding to the three cross-over memristive behaviour, an OTA-based memristor emulator has been developed. Unlike some existing fractional order non-symmetric multi-crossing memristor emulators, the proposed emulator circuit realises an integer order memristor function operating at moderate frequencies. The realised emulator uses only four OTAs and three grounded passive circuit elements with no external multiplier. For the CMOS implementation of employed OTA, the simulation results are obtained to verify the three pinch-off behaviour.

A Polymorphic Memtransistor with Tunable Metallic and Semiconducting Channel.

Modulating semiconducting channel potential has been used for electrical switching in transistors without biological plasticity operations that are critical for energy-efficient neuromorphic computing. To achieve efficient data processing, alternative transport mechanisms, such as tunneling and thermionic emission, have been introduced with 2D materials. Here, a polymorphic memtransistor based on atomically thin Mo0.91 W0.09 Te2 is presented, where the lattice and electronic structures of the lateral device channel can be tuned as either metallic (1T') or semiconducting (2H) phases by electrical gating. The structural and electronic phase change of the channel material, optimized in Mo0.91 W0.09 Te2 , is explored using transport and optical measurements at the device scale. Based on the phase transition, the polymorphic memtransistor demonstrates a high on/off ratio (up to 105 ), low subthreshold swing (down to 80mV dec-1 ), and various memristive behaviors, which are distinguished from traditional phase-change memory, transistors, and passive memristors for diverse neuromorphic and in-memory computing.

Dynamics of a Photochromic-Actuated Slot Microring Photonic Memristor

In electronic circuits, memristors have been defined as resistors whose resistance depends on past signals. Such elements have promise as low-power weighting and self-learning elements in electronic neuromorphic circuits. Photonic memristors, elements whose transmission depends on past optical signals, are experiencing renewed study alongside the rise in interest in neuromorphic photonics. One potential route to creating photonic memristors involves incorporating photochromic materials, whose optical properties continuously change with optical illumination, into photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In this manuscript we lay out a theoretical model to study the transmission dynamics of devices incorporating photochromic compounds into SiN planar microring resonators which utilize slot waveguide structure, and show that such devices fulfill the criteria for memristive behaviour. This represents a practical path towards incorporating photonic memristors into a technologically mature material platform with minimal additional fabrication processes.

Neurotransmitter ligand effect of dopamine and cortisol conjuation on ZnO nanoparticles embedded polyvinylphenol resistive switching device

In this paper, dopamine (DA) and cortisol (CORT), two kinds of neurotransmitters, were adopted as a ligand or surface modification agent on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) to modulate resistive switching (RS) property of the ZnO NPs embedded into polyvinylphenol (PVP) hybrid matrix. Here, digital and analog RS behaviors were demonstrated with the DA and CORT conjugations showing different ligand influence on the RS properties, respectively. For the hybrid layer, operations of bistable ON/OFF and multileveled resistance or conductance could coexist depending on the thickness and concentration of the ZnO NPs. First, conjugation of the DA on the ZnO NPs could reveal distinct memristive behaviors, which demonstrated potentiation of analog RS mode by showing gradually increased windows of the I–V hysteresis by consecutive sweeps, which were distinguished from the unconjugated ZnO NPs embedded PVP device. Secondly, in the other hand, conjugation of the CORT as the ZnO NPs’ ligand could demonstrate enhanced depression characteristics unlike the potentiation behavior induced by the DA conjugation. Therefore, since the biological neurotransmitters of DA and CORT were found to influence the RS behaviors, a novel development of bioelectronic neuromorphic device implemented for a direct interface between biological neuro-system and electronic RS device can be envisioned through this study.

Organic Memristor with Synaptic Plasticity for Neuromorphic Computing Applications

Memristors have been considered to be more efficient than traditional Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) devices in implementing artificial synapses, which are fundamental yet very critical components of neurons as well as neural networks. Compared with inorganic counterparts, organic memristors have many advantages, including low-cost, easy manufacture, high mechanical flexibility, and biocompatibility, making them applicable in more scenarios. Here, we present an organic memristor based on an ethyl viologen diperchlorate [EV(ClO4)]2/triphenylamine-containing polymer (BTPA-F) redox system. The device with bilayer structure organic materials as the resistive switching layer (RSL) exhibits memristive behaviors and excellent long-term synaptic plasticity. Additionally, the device's conductance states can be precisely modulated by consecutively applying voltage pulses between the top and bottom electrodes. A three-layer perception neural network with in situ computing enabled was then constructed utilizing the proposed memristor and trained on the basis of the device's synaptic plasticity characteristics and conductance modulation rules. Recognition accuracies of 97.3% and 90% were achieved, respectively, for the raw and 20% noisy handwritten digits images from the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) dataset, demonstrating the feasibility and applicability of implementing neuromorphic computing applications utilizing the proposed organic memristor.

Femtosecond Laser-Induced Nano-Joining of Volatile Tellurium Nanotube Memristor.

Nanowire/nanotube memristor devices provide great potential for random-access high-density resistance storage. However, fabricating high-quality and stable memristors is still challenging. This paper reports multileveled resistance states of tellurium (Te) nanotube based on the clean-room free femtosecond laser nano-joining method. The temperature for the entire fabrication process was maintained below 190 °C. A femtosecond laser joining technique was used to form nanowire memristor units with enhanced properties. Femtosecond (fs) laser-irradiated silver-tellurium nanotube-silver structures resulted in plasmonic-enhanced optical joining with minimal local thermal effects. This produced a junction between the Te nanotube and the silver film substrate with enhanced electrical contacts. Noticeable changes in memristor behavior were observed after fs laser irradiation. Capacitor-coupled multilevel memristor behavior was observed. Compared to previous metal oxide nanowire-based memristors, the reported Te nanotube memristor system displayed a nearly two-order stronger current response. The research displays that the multileveled resistance state is rewritable with a negative bias.

Metal doped polyaniline as neuromorphic circuit elements for in-materia computing

ABSTRACT Polyaniline-based atomic switches are material building blocks whose nanoscale structure and resultant neuromorphic character provide a new physical substrate for the development next-generation, nanoarchitectonic-enabled computing systems. Metal ion-doped devices consisting of a Ag/metal ion doped polyaniline/Pt sandwich structure were fabricated using an in situ wet process. The devices exhibited repeatable resistive switching between high (ON) and low (OFF) conductance states in both Ag+ and Cu2+ ion-doped devices. The threshold voltage for switching was>0.8 V and average ON/OFF conductance ratios (30 cycles for 3 samples) were 13 and 16 for Ag+ and Cu2+ devices, respectively. The ON state duration was determined by the decay to an OFF state after pulsed voltages of differing amplitude and frequency. The switching behaviour is analagous to short-term (STM) and long-term (LTM) memories of biological synapses. Memristive behaviour and evidence of quantized conductance were also observed and interpreted in terms of metal filament formation bridging the metal doped polymer layer. The successful realization of these properties within physical material systems indicate polyaniline frameworks as suitable neuromorphic substrates for in materia computing.

Field-Free Current-Induced Switching of L 1 0 - FePt Using Interlayer Exchange Coupling for Neuromorphic Computing

$L{1}_{0}$-phase $\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$ is well known for its unusually robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) properties arising from strong conduction-electron spin-orbit coupling (SOC) with the $\mathrm{Fe}$ orbital moment. The strong PMA enables stable magnetic storage and memory devices with ultrahigh capacity. Meanwhile, SOC is also the premise of the recently discovered spin-orbit-torque (SOT) effect, which opens avenues for possible electrical manipulation of magnetization for $L{1}_{0}$-$\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$. The bulk SOT of the $L{1}_{0}$-$\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$ single layer was discovered recently; this leads to the magnetization of $L{1}_{0}$-$\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$ reversibly switching on itself. However, deterministic SOT switching of bulk perpendicularly magnetized $\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$ magnets relies on an external magnetic field to break the symmetry. Here, the symmetry-breaking issue is resolved by interlayer exchange coupling, where the $\mathrm{Fe}\mathrm{Pt}$ layer is coupled with an in-plane magnetized $\mathrm{Ni}\mathrm{Fe}$ layer through a $\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{N}$ spacer layer. Furthermore, our device also presents memristive or gradual switching behaviors, even without an external field, offering the potential for constructing spin synapses and spin neurons for neuromorphic computing. An artificial neural network with high accuracy (\ensuremath{\sim}91.17%) is realized based on the constructed synapses and neurons. Our work paves the way for field-free SOT switching of single bulk PMA magnets and their potential applications in neuromorphic computing.

Multiple Nonvolatile Skyrmion States in Nanostructured Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Multilayers

Magnetic skyrmions have promising applications as nonvolatile memory for their particlelike and topological-protected features. The recently reported artificial skyrmion has shown a better prospect due to its controllable size and site. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate multiple nonvolatile skyrmion states in nanostructured synthetic antiferromagnetic $[\mathrm{Pt}/\mathrm{Co}{]}_{4}/\mathrm{Ru}/[\mathrm{Co}/\mathrm{Pt}{]}_{4}$ multilayers at room temperature. Our magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements of major and minor reversal curves reveal that the skyrmion can exist at zero field with memristive behavior. Using the observed multiple skyrmion states, nonvolatile memory behavior is demonstrated. Our results provide evidence for the concept of skyrmion-based nonvolatile memory, i.e., skyrmion-based memristors and artificial synapses or neurons.

Memristive and Tunneling Effects in 3D Interconnected Silver Nanowires.

A network of silver nanowires (Ag-NWs) is grown by electrodeposition in a nanoporous membrane with interconnected nanopores. This bottom-up approach fabrication method gives a conducting network with a 3D architecture and a high density of Ag-NWs. The network is then functionalized during the etching process, which leads to a high initial resistance as well as memristive behavior. The latter is expected to arise from the creation and the destruction of conducting silver filaments in the functionalized Ag-NW network. Moreover, after several cycles of measurement, the resistance of the network switches from a high-resistance regime in the GΩ range with tunnel conduction to a low-resistance regime presenting negative differential resistance in the kΩ range.

Electronically Tunable Memristor Emulator Implemented Using a Single Active Element and Its Application in Adaptive Learning.

In recent times, much-coveted memristor emulators have found their use in a variety of applications such as neuromorphic computing, analog computations, signal processing, etc. Thus, a 100 MHz flux-controlled memristor emulator is proposed in this research brief. The proposed memristor emulator is designed using a single differential voltage current conveyor (DVCC), three PMOS transistors, and one capacitor. Among three PMOS transistors, two transistors are used to implement an active resistor, and one transistor is used as the multiplier required for the necessary memristive behaviors. Through simple adjustment of the switch, the proposed emulator can be operated in incremental as well as decremental configurations. The simulations are performed using a 180 nm technology node to validate the proposed design and are experimentally verified using AD844AN and CD4007 ICs. The memristor states of the proposed emulator are perfectly retained even in the absence of external stimuli, thereby ascertaining the non-volatility behavior. The robustness of the design is further analyzed using the PVT and Monte Carlo simulations, which suggest that the circuit operation is not hindered by the mismatch and process variations. A simple neuromorphic adaptive learning circuit based on the proposed memristor is also designed as an application.

A novel second generation current conveyor (CCII)-based high frequency memristor model

In this research article, we propose a combination of the second-generation current conveyor (CCII) and a PMOS circuit, emulating a memristive behavior. The voltage across the capacitor controls the conductivity of the PMOS, thus creating a non-linear conductance, also known as memductance. The maximum operating frequency is 40 MHz, the transistor count is 10 and the total power consumption of the circuit is 2.6 mW. A reduction in the transistor count by almost 40% has been achieved with this emulator circuit. When compared with the design that uses CCII the drop in the transistor count is even more i.e, by 58% approx. The proposed design has been laid using the cadence environment 180 nm process parameter and the layout occupies an area of 619.25 μm2. The theoretical analyses and simulations have been experimentally verified using CD-4007 CMOS integrated circuit (IC). Besides, a read-write operation using the proposed emulator has been included briefly. Furthermore, the current mode circuits owing to their various advantages such as less power consumption and smaller chip area pave the path for fabrication using standard CMOS technologies.

Polarization-Dominated Internal Timing Mechanism in a Ferroelectric Second-Order Memristor

Second-order memristors are considered as ideal synaptic emulators for their capability of exhibiting ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{2+}$-like dynamics. Recently, ferroelectric second-order memristors were developed, but whether their temporal conductance evolution is related to polarization dynamics remains unclear owing to the difficulty in directly measuring polarization in these devices. This issue is addressed here by using a ferroelectric diode (FD) that shows both second-order memristive behavior and well-shaped polarization-voltage hysteresis loops. It is demonstrated that the resistance-state change in the FD is triggered by polarization switching, arising from polarization-controlled Schottky emission. Moreover, concurrent conductance decay and polarization relaxation are observed, and their correlation is quantitatively evidenced, suggesting that conductance decay is caused by the polarization-relaxation-induced increase in the Schottky barrier height. Using polarization relaxation as an internal timing mechanism, our FD-based second-order memristor faithfully emulates various synaptic functions, where short-term plasticity is indispensable, including excitatory postsynaptic current, paired-pulse facilitation, the transition from short-term plasticity to long-term plasticity, learning experience, and associative learning. Our study not only reveals a polarization-dominated internal timing mechanism in the FD-based second-order memristor, but also demonstrates that such a device is a promising building block for biorealistic neuromorphic systems.

In-plane charged domain walls with memristive behaviour in a ferroelectric film.

Domain-wall nanoelectronics is considered to be a new paradigm for non-volatile memory and logic technologies in which domain walls, rather than domains, serve as an active element. Especially interesting are charged domain walls in ferroelectric structures, which have subnanometre thicknesses and exhibit non-trivial electronic and transport properties that are useful for various nanoelectronics applications1-3. The ability to deterministically create and manipulate charged domain walls is essential to realize their functional properties in electronic devices. Here we report a strategy for the controllable creation and manipulation of in-plane charged domain walls in BiFeO3 ferroelectric films a few nanometres thick. By using an in situ biasing technique within a scanning transmission electron microscope, an unconventional layer-by-layer switching mechanism is detected in which ferroelectric domain growth occurs in the direction parallel to an applied electric field. Based on atomically resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy, in situ charge mapping by in-line electron holography and theoretical calculations, we show that oxygen vacancies accumulating at the charged domain walls are responsible for the domain-wall stability and motion. Voltage control of the in-plane domain-wall position within a BiFeO3 film gives rise to multiple non-volatile resistance states, thus demonstrating the key functional property of being a memristor a few unit cells thick. These results promote a better understanding of ferroelectric switching behaviour and provide a new strategy for creating unit-cell-scale devices.

Spin–Orbit Torque-Driven Memristor in L10 FePt Systems with Nanoscale-Thick Layers for Neuromorphic Computing

In this study, a memristor driven by spin–orbit torque (SOT) is realized in the nanoscale thickness L10 FePt systems with high perpendicular magnetization anisotropy (PMA). Due to the domain nucleation and expansion driven by current pulses, multilevel Hall resistance states can be continuously tuned by current density, where the memristive states are retained by the domain wall pinning effects. The properties of multilevel resistance states for samples with different structures are associated with the magnitude of field-like torque, and the larger efficiency of field-like torque enhances multiple resistance characteristics. Furthermore, the stable memristive behavior is obtained in the FePt/MgO/NiFe heterostructure. Finally, a three-layer multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network is built to perform the MNIST handwritten digit recognition task based on the device’s memristive behaviors, and the accuracy of weight update can reach up to 88.55%. These results pave the way for the application of L10 FePt nanomaterials in neuromorphic computing.

Controllable modulation of the oxygen vacancy-induced adjustment of memristive behavior for direct differential operation with transistor-free memristor.

To achieve the goal of neuromorphic computing hardware implementation with extremely high efficiency, low power consumption, and high density, it is necessary to develop transistor-free memristors and implement differential operation without subtraction circuits. In this study, argon ion irradiation was used during the fabrication process of a single crystalline LiNbO3 (LN) thin film to controllably introduce oxygen vacancies (OVs) into the bottom surface, which realized the modulation of OVs based on the excellent environment provided by a single-crystalline thin film. The memristive behavior of memristors was then modulated by regulating the distribution of OVs, and the effect of OVs distributed near the bottom surface of the single crystalline LN thin film on the memristive behavior was analyzed. In this way, two transistor-free memristors with opposite memristive behavior directions were fabricated. Two transistor-free memristors exhibit excellent synaptic plasticity and reliable multilevel resistance states. Based on two transistor-free memristors, a novel differential pair was constructed. Hardware implementations of direct differential operation without subtraction circuits were achieved. This study provides a new pathway to develop a transistor-free memristor and achieve differential operation without subtraction circuits in neuromorphic computing, which will simplify the peripheral circuits, improve integration density, and reduce power consumption and latency.

Achieving adjustable digital-to-analog conversion in memristors with embedded Cs2AgSbBr6 nanoparticles.

In this work, the proportions of Cs2AgSbBr6 nanoparticles (NPs) mixed in a PMMA film are adjusted to the digital and analog types of resistive switching (RS) behaviors in Ag/PMMA&Cs2AgSbBr6-NPs/ITO memristor devices. It is confirmed that when the concentration of NPs doped in the PMMA film is about 5 wt%, the memristor devices demonstrate bipolar digital RS behaviors with excellent electrical characteristics such as low operating voltage, high ON/OFF ratio (>500), good endurance (>800 cycles), and stable retention ability (>104 s). However, the devices showed a transition to analog-type memristive behavior when the concentration of NPs doped in the PMMA film is around 10 wt%, and several artificial synapse behaviors are successfully simulated. The device model simulation is also used to explore the effect of the NPs on the local electric field and growing filaments. Our work provides an opportunity to explore next-generation artificial synapse devices based on lead-free halide perovskites.