In situ forming, characterization, and transduction of nanowire memristors

Abstract

We report the nanorobotic in situ formation and characterization of memristors based on individual copper oxide nanowires (CuO NWs) and their potential applications as nanosensors with memory function (memristic sensors or "memsensors"). A series of in situ techniques for the experimental investigations of memristors are developed including nanorobotic manipulation, electro-beam-based forming, and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) enabled correlation of transport properties and dopant distribution. All experimental investigations are performed inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The initial CuO NW memristors are formed by localized electron-beam irradiation to generate oxygen vacancies as dopants. Current-voltage properties show distinctive hysteresis characteristics of memristors. The mechanism of such memristic behavior is explained with an oxygen vacancy migration model. The presence and migration of the oxygen vacancies is identified with EELS. Investigations also reveal that the memristic behavior can be influenced by the deformation of the nanowire, showing that the nanowire memristor can serve as a deformation/force memorable sensor. The CuO NW-based memristors will enrich the binary transition oxide family but hold a simpler and more compact design than the conventional thin-film version. With these advantages, the CuO NW-based memristors will not only facilitate their applications in nanoelectronics but play a unique role in micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) as well.

Orientation and Grain Shape control of Cu2O Film and the Related Properties

“…The highest photoelectric conversion efficiency has reached to 5.38% [6][7]. Cu 2 O also has wide applications in gas sensing, [8][9] memristors, [10] and catalyst [11]. Due to the advantages in abundance, low cost, and nontoxicity, Cu 2 O satisfies the necessary economical and environmental requirement for large scale applications.…”

Microstructural transitions in resistive random access memory composed of molybdenum oxide with copper during switching cycles

“…In addition to perovskite-type ReRAMs [37][38][39] and devices based on binary oxides, [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] many reports on CBRAMs have appeared in recent years. [47][48][49][50][51][52][53] In one example, the dynamic growth and rupture of a Cu CF was confirmed during a switching cycle.…”

Transmission Electron Microscopy on Memristive Devices: An Overview

“…In terms of TEM analysis these devices are advantageous because they forestall the need for complicated and time-consuming crosssectional specimen preparation if deposited directly onto electron transparent membranes. Horizontal memristive devices have been realized with switching nano-structures containing Ag wires (Avizienis et al, 2012), CuO nanowires (Fan et al, 2013;Liang et al, 2014), ZnO nanowires (Chiang et al, 2011), TiO 2 (Lin et al, 2016), Cu 2 S nanowires (Liu et al, 2015), GeTe nanowires (Sun et al, 2007), and Ge/Si nanowires (Yan et al, 2011). The large variety of material systems analyzed underlines the flexibility and relative ease with which such investigations can be conducted.…”