A ferroelectric memristor

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a ferroelectric memristor with large resistance changes and fast operation, explaining its behavior through domain models, and highlights its potential for neuromorphic computing.

Contribution

It introduces a new ferroelectric memristor mechanism based on voltage-controlled domain configurations with significant resistance variation.

Findings

Resistance variations exceeding two orders of magnitude

Operation speed of 10 nanoseconds

Analytical model explaining memristive behavior

Abstract

Memristors are continuously tunable resistors that emulate synapses. Conceptualized in the 1970s, they traditionally operate by voltage-induced displacements of matter, but the mechanism remains controversial. Purely electronic memristors have recently emerged based on well-established physical phenomena with albeit modest resistance changes. Here we demonstrate that voltage-controlled domain configurations in ferroelectric tunnel barriers yield memristive behaviour with resistance variations exceeding two orders of magnitude and a 10 ns operation speed. Using models of ferroelectric-domain nucleation and growth we explain the quasi-continuous resistance variations and derive a simple analytical expression for the memristive effect. Our results suggest new opportunities for ferroelectrics as the hardware basis of future neuromorphic computational architectures.