Spatially uniform resistance switching of low current, high endurance titanium-niobium-oxide memristors

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that titanium-niobium-oxide memristors operate with spatially uniform resistance switching, exhibiting low power consumption, high endurance, and providing insights into their physico-chemical mechanisms for improved device design.

Contribution

The paper reveals that titanium-niobium-oxide memristors switch resistance uniformly without localized channels, contrasting with typical transition-metal-oxide memristors, and links spectral features to their operation mechanisms.

Findings

Low write-power (<3 μW) and energy (<200 fJ/bit/μm^2)

High endurance (>millions of cycles)

Spatially uniform material changes during operation

Abstract

We analyzed micrometer-scale titanium-niobium-oxide prototype memristors, which exhibited low write-power (<3 {\mu}W) and energy (<200 fJ/bit/{\mu}m2), low read-power (~nW), and high endurance (>millions of cycles). To understand their physico-chemical operating mechanisms, we performed in-operando synchrotron x-ray transmission nanoscale spectromicroscopy using an ultra-sensitive time-multiplexed technique. We observed only spatially uniform material changes during cell operation, in sharp contrast to the frequently detected formation of a localized conduction channel in transition-metal-oxide memristors. We also associated the response of assigned spectral features distinctly to non-volatile storage (resistance change) and writing of information (application of voltage and Joule heating). These results provide critical insights into high-performance memristors that will aid in device design, scaling and predictive circuit-modeling, all of which are essential for the widespread deployment of successful memristor applications.