‘Memristive’ switches enable ‘stateful’ logic operations via material implication

Abstract

The authors of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors-the industry consensus set of goals established for advancing silicon integrated circuit technology-have challenged the computing research community to find new physical state variables (other than charge or voltage), new devices, and new architectures that offer memory and logic functions beyond those available with standard transistors. Recently, ultra-dense resistive memory arrays built from various two-terminal semiconductor or insulator thin film devices have been demonstrated. Among these, bipolar voltage-actuated switches have been identified as physical realizations of 'memristors' or memristive devices, combining the electrical properties of a memory element and a resistor. Such devices were first hypothesized by Chua in 1971 (ref. 15), and are characterized by one or more state variables that define the resistance of the switch depending upon its voltage history. Here we show that this family of nonlinear dynamical memory devices can also be used for logic operations: we demonstrate that they can execute material implication (IMP), which is a fundamental Boolean logic operation on two variables p and q such that pIMPq is equivalent to (NOTp)ORq. Incorporated within an appropriate circuit, memristive switches can thus perform 'stateful' logic operations for which the same devices serve simultaneously as gates (logic) and latches (memory) that use resistance instead of voltage or charge as the physical state variable.

Anatomy of a Nanoscale Conduction Channel Reveals the Mechanism of a High‐Performance Memristor

“…[ 1 ] Redox RAM is one type of memristor [10][11][12][13][14][15] that has shown more than adequate scalability, non-volatility, multiplestate operation, 3D stackability, and complementary metaloxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility. Moreover, these devices have also exhibited signifi cant potential in other applications, such as stateful logic operations, [ 40 ] neuromorphic computing, [ 27 , 41 ] and CMOS/memristor hybrid circuits for confi guration bits and signal routing. [ 42 ] However, as pointed out by the ITRS 2010, there are still challenges remaining for these devices, among which are reliability and a better understanding of the microscopic picture of the switching.…”

Research Update: Fast and tunable nanoionics in vertically aligned nanostructured films

“…Next-generation memory devices based on resistive switching (RS) phenomena have been demonstrated using ionic motion in semiconductors. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] When an electric field is applied, ions move toward one electrode, and accumulate and form conducting channels, resulting in a low-resistive state of the device. When an electric field with opposite polarity is applied, the ions in the channels move back to the other electrode; therefore, the channels are dissolved and ruptured, resulting in a high-resistive state of the device.…”

Electrochemical dynamics of nanoscale metallic inclusions in dielectrics

“…However, manual manipulation using scanning tunneling microscopy is slow and inefficient, and not device-friendly compared with methods such as using local electric fields. Indeed, devices based on the field-driven migration of metal inclusions (such as resistive switching or memristive devices) [7][8][9] have attracted broad interest recently and have shown great potential as a disruptive technology for a number of applications including nonvolatile memory [10][11][12][13] , logic [14][15][16] and neuromorphic computing 17 . In these devices, the resistive switching is normally attributed to filament formation caused by the movement of metal inclusions in the insulating dielectric film 9,10,[18][19][20] .…”