Memristor Report
Memristor Report
Bachelor of Technology
in
Electronics Engineering
on the topic
MEMRISTORS
SUBMITTED TO
Department of Electronics Engineering
Harcourt Butler Technological Institute
Kanpur -208002
September 2014
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Ms. Anushree Bhatt and Mr.Pranjal Pande, students of
H.B.T.I. Kanpur are candidates for degree of Bachelor of Technology, Department
of Electronics Engineering. They have worked under my guidance and supervision
and prepared their seminar on the topic “Memristors”.
Mr.A.K.Shankhwar
Assistance Professor
Seminar Guide
Department of Electronics Engineering
H.B.T.I. Kanpur
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would also like to thank sir for his indispensable guidance, generous help,
perpetual encouragement and constant attention offered throughout in preparing
the seminar.
At last we would like to thank all our Faculty members who helped us in preparing
the seminar topic.
Regards
Anushree Bhatt (182/11)
Pranjal Pande (560/11)
Final B.Tech Electronics Engineering
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TABLE OF CONTENT
1. Abstract 5
2. About Memristors
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Theory 7
2.3 An illustrative example: The first memristor 9
3. Properties 11
3.1 I-V curve of a memristor 12
3.2 Experimental tests for memristors 14
4 Implementations 14
5 Potential Applications 17
5.1 What sets memristors apart 20
5.2 Challenges to overcome 20
6 Conclusion 21
7 References 23
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1.Abstract
The memristor (short for memory resistor) is a yet quite unknown circuit element,
though equally fundamental as resistors, capacitors, and coils. It was predicted
from theory arguments nearly 40 years ago, but not realized as a physical
component until recently. The memristor shows many interesting features when
describing electrical phenomena, especially at small (molecular or cellular) scales.
Up until today the tools available for circuit modeling have been restricted to the
three circuit elements (RLC). However, as one element has been missing in our
modeling toolbox, many phenomena may have been described incompletely as
they are indeed memristive. Such memristive behavior is not possible to capture
within a traditional RLC framework. In this report, a new two-terminal circuit
element-called the memristor is characterized by a relationship between the
charge q and the flux linkage Ψ and is introduced as the fourth basic circuit
element. We will introduce the memristor and look at memristive phenomena. It
is shown that this element exhibits some peculiar behavior different from that
exhibited by resistors, inductors, or capacitors. These properties lead to a number
of unique applications which cannot be realized with networks alone. The goal is
to explain the new memristor’s properties in a simple manner as well as to
highlight its importance, relevance and potential applications.
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2. About Memristors
2.1 Introduction
The memristor was originally envisioned in 1971 by circuit theorist Leon Chua as a
missing non-linear passive two-terminal electrical component relating electric
charge and magnetic flux linkage. The reason that the memristor is radically
different from the other fundamental circuit elements is that, unlike
them, it carries a memory of its past. When you turn off the voltage to the circuit,
the memristor still remembers its most recent resistance until it is turned on
again. That's an effect that can't be duplicated by any circuit combination of
resistors, capacitors, and inductors, which is why the memristor qualifies as a
fundamental circuit element. The memristor is currently under development by
various teams including Hewlett-Packard, SK Hynix and HRL Laboratories.
Reference : Kanellos, M. (30 April 2008), "HP makes memory from a once
theoretical circuit", CNET News, retrieved 2008-04-30
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2.2 Theory
In every introductory course in electromagnetism or circuit theory one learns that
there are three fundamental circuit elements, namely the capacitor, the resistor
and the coil. However, in 1971, a young circuit theorist, Leon Chua argued from
theoretical grounds that there should be also a fourth circuit element that was
equally fundamental as the other three. He gave this element the name
memristor since it, under certain conditions, acts as a resistor with memory, i.e.
the resistance is dependent on the physical history. Memristive systems, as we
will see, are usually very small in size and therefore were not able to be identified.
However, recent birth of nanoelectronics and the corresponding study of charge
transport in solid-state has helped us observe and understand memristance in
devices.
From a theoretical point of view the three basic circuit elements – resistor,
capacitor, and coil – are defined by a relationship between two of the four
axiomatic circuit variables: the voltage, v; the current, i; the charge, q; and the
flux φ. These four variables lead to six possible combinations. Chua noted that
only five of these combinations had led to established relationships. Two of the
five realizations are the definition of current i=dq/dt and Faradays law of
Induction. The other three are the definitions of the well-known basic circuit
elements which are the capacitor (C=dq/dv), the resistor (R=dv/di), and the coil
(L=dφ/di). This means that one relationship remained undefined, namely the
correlation between electric charge, q, and magnetic flux, φ, which we can be
seen from the symmetry diagram in the figure 2.
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Chua postulated an additional circuit element defined by the relation between
charge and flux should exist, from both a logical point of view and for the sake of
completeness. Chua called this circuit element a memristor (short for memory
resistor) based on the properties he found the element to have. Put simply, it was
an element that changed its resistance depending on how much charge flowed
through it.
This concept was generalized to memristive systems by Chua in 1976 and can be
written as
V=R(x,t)i
dx/dt = f(x,t)
which looks like a nonlinear version of Ohm’s law. One important aspect to keep
in mind about the memristor is its dependence on the ‘state’ variable x. It is time
dependent, a fact that makes the memristor a non-linear element distinct from
the (linear) resistor. This time dependence of the state variable provides the
‘memory’ of the system. The resistance will vary with the amount of charge
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passed through the element and in general not be a constant.
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When current is passing through this HP memristor, the boundary between the
high and low conductive states is shifted either to the right or to the left with
time. It can be thought that the charge carriers push this boundary back and
forth. This means the total memristance of the system is either reduced or
increased depending on in which direction the charge carriers flow. This is exactly
what is needed for a memristor. An illustration of the HP memristor is shown in
figure 4.
M(q)=Roff + Ron
where Roff and Ron are the highest and lowest possible resistances of the
memristor. This expression can furthermore be written on a form that is
illustrative for memristors.
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We note the following four things:
1. The dependence of the electric charge shows that this system is not resistive,
but instead memristive.
2. The memristive contribution to the electrical behavior of the system blows up
when the device itself becomes very small.
3. The expression of the memristance does not explicitly involve magnetic flux,
although the memristor is defined as a relation between flux and electric charge.
The apparent absence of flux can be explained by using Faraday’s law of induction
rewriting the definition of the memristor as
This just looks like ordinary resistance (but the charge dependence ensures that it
is really not), and hence it works as an illustration that memristance in some cases
degenerates to ordinary resistance. This happens, for example, if M(q) is constant
with time. Thus, it seems clear that there is no need to introduce memristors in
linear circuit theory. Memristors are nonlinear. When describing the first
memristor, the HP researchers made use of this fact of nonlinearity. Instead of
searching among magnetic systems they started investigating small electrical
devices (when D is small) where there was a nonlinear relation between the
integral of the current and the integral of the charge so that the M(q) becomes
nonlinear .
Memristors are obviously nonlinear systems of small size. This is something that is
found in many biological systems, prompting the need for further study.
Especially those systems that exhibit a dynamic behavior of the resistance with
time may be promising candidates for being memristive rather than any
other.
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3. Properties
Listed below are some of the most characteristic and important features for
memristors:
An ac element, not dc
No storage of energy
Two-point terminal circuit element
Pinched hysteresis loop in the i-v plane
Positive or negative differential resistance
Nonlinear q-φ curve
Low-frequency property and frequency-dependent
memristance; and
Typically only apparent at small scales.
We have seen how the memristance of the memristor changes with time when an
alternating current is passing through the device, indicating that it is an ac device.
In general memristance is not visible for dc signals. Still, the memristor will
conduct dc current, but now behave as a time-varying resistor and not as a proper
memristor. Once the voltage over the memristor is switched off, the dynamic
motion of the boundary between the two parts stop and the resistance value of
the memristor is preserved – or, put colloquially, ‘remembered.’ This memory of
the device is kept until another voltage is applied to the system, inducing charge
transport. Even if the resistance state of the memristor is preserved, the
memristor does not involve any storage of electric or magnetic energy.
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model of a memristor is shown in figure 5.
The hysteresis loops are very valuable when memristive systems are to be
identified, and the loops normally run through the origin in an i-v plot. This fact
further underlines that the memristor is not an energy storage device. The
hysteresis loops are formed since the current through the memristor does not
vary linearly with the applied voltage, unlike a resistor that follows Ohm’s law.
The boundary, w, between the high conductive state and the low conductive state
of the device is moved by the charge carriers as current is passed the memristor.
If the charge carriers push the boundary to one side, the instantaneous resistance
of the two-component device is reducing with time. This means that current is
increasing at an increasing rate compared to the voltage. This is not linear and the
i-v curve curves upward. Even after the voltage starts to decrease, the current
increases for a short while since the charge carriers still push the boundary
towards a low conductive. This feedback, which can be either positive or negative
depending on the direction of motion the charge carriers, is typical for memristors
and differs from what we are familiar with through Ohm’s law, where i=v/r.
A memristor gives a nonlinear curve when the flux, φ is plotted versus the charge,
q. This nonlinear behavior is required for a system to be memristive. Hence, any
hysteresis detection of current versus voltage should be tested to see if charge
varies nonlinearly with the flux, an indication of the system might being
memristive.
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The memristive term blows up as the typical size, D, of the system is reduced. For
example, if the size changes from μm to nm scale, the memristive contribution is
increased by a factor of 106. One may therefore expect memristive effects to
become more significant as studies on smaller and smaller electrical systems are
carried out. Fundamental electrical mechanisms behind many bioelectrical
phenomena may therefore involve significant memristive effects. Chua
mentioned biophysics as a field where “mistaken nonlinear identities” are present
in the literature and emphasized the need to sort out some of the
misunderstandings by including memristive systems in circuit models. Certainly,
understanding small scale, nonlinear electrical phenomena will become more and
more important as time goes by.
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4. Implementations
Titanium dioxide memristor
Interest in the memristor revived when an experimental solid state version was
reported by R. Stanley Williams of Hewlett Packard. The article was the first to
demonstrate that a solid-state device could have the characteristics of a
memristor based on the behavior of nanoscale thin films. The device neither uses
magnetic flux as the theoretical memristor suggested, nor stores charge as a
capacitor does, but instead achieves a resistance dependent on the history of
current.
The HP device is composed of a thin (50 nm) titanium dioxide film between two
5 nm thick electrodes, one titanium, the other platinum. Initially, there are two
layers to the titanium dioxide film, one of which has a slight depletion
of oxygen atoms. The oxygen vacancies act as charge carriers, meaning that the
depleted layer has a much lower resistance than the non-depleted layer. When an
electric field is applied, the oxygen vacancies drift, changing the boundary
between the high-resistance and low-resistance layers. Thus the resistance of the
film as a whole is dependent on how much charge has been passed through it in a
particular direction, which is reversible by changing the direction of current. Since
the HP device displays fast ion conduction at nanoscale, it is considered
a nanoionic device.
Memristance is displayed only when both the doped layer and depleted layer
contribute to resistance. When enough charge has passed through the memristor
that the ions can no longer move, the device enters hysteresis. It ceases to
integrate q=∫Idt, but rather keeps q at an upper bound and M fixed, thus acting as
a constant resistor until current is reversed.
Polymeric memristor
In 2004, Krieger and Spitzer described dynamic doping of polymer and inorganic
dielectric-like materials that improved the switching characteristics and retention
required to create functioning nonvolatile memory cells. They used a passive layer
between electrode and active thin films, which enhanced the extraction of ions
from the electrode. It is possible to use fast ion conductor as this passive layer,
which allows a significant reduction of the ionic extraction field.
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In 2012, Crupi, Pradhan and Tozer described a proof of concept design to create
neural synaptic memory circuits using organic ion-based memristors.The synapse
circuit demonstrated long-term potentiation for learning as well as inactivity
based forgetting. Using a grid of circuits, a pattern of light was stored and later
recalled. This mimics the behavior of the neurons in the primary visual cortex that
process visual signals such as edges and moving lines.
Ferroelectric memristor
Spintronic memristor
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Spin memristive system
5. Potential Applications
As Memory Devices, replacing DRAM, Flash memory and Hard Disks
Flash memory currently commands the vast majority of the multibillion dollar
non-volatile memory market, but experts agree that Flash memory feature sizes
may not continue to scale well into the near future. As a result, most big players
in the market are researching potential alternatives. The proposed solution to this
problem s RRAM. Resistive random-access memory (RRAM) is a new non-volatile
memory type which promises to replace the existing flash memory
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To Emulate Synapse
As a Switch
To perform Logic
Memristors offer the following advantages when they are used to perform logic :
More logic can be implemented on the same die area by stacking
memristor crossbars on top of each other and connecting it to CMOS. So
we get very high logic chip density.
Logic can be performed inside memory as memristors have memory.
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Memristors can perform logic in three ways
New Transistors
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allow greater density hard drives with much greater speeds. Transistors are the
main building block of modern electronics. Memristor development predicts that
we can make a new type of transistor 10 times smaller than the ones today
In April 2010, HP labs announced that they had practical memristors working at
1 ns (~1 GHz) switching times and 3 nm by 3 nm sizes, which bodes well for the
future of the technology. At these densities it could easily rival the current sub-
25 nm flash memory technology. HP, is staking everything on a brand new
computer architecture that it call The Machine. In the words of HP Labs, The
Machine will be a complete replacement for current computer system
architectures. There will be a new operating system, a new type of memory
(memristors), and super-fast buses/peripheral interconnects (photonics).
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5.2 Challenges to overcome
Nonvolatile information storage requires the existence of energy barriers
that separate distinct memory states from each other. Memristors whose
resistance (memory) states depend only on the current (like the HP
memristor) or voltage history would be unable to protect their memory
states against unavoidable fluctuations and thus permanently suffer
information loss: the proposed hypothetical concept provides no physical
mechanism enabling such systems to retain memory states after the
applied current or voltage stress is removed. Such elements can therefore
not exist, as they would always be susceptible to a so-called ‘stochastic
catastrophe’.
Other researchers noted that memristor models based on the assumption
of linear ionic drift do not account for asymmetry between set time (high-
to-low resistance switching) and reset time (low-to-high resistance
switching) and do not provide ionic mobility values consistent with
experimental data. Non-linear ionic drift models have been proposed to
compensate for this deficiency.
Also there is no design logic as yet for Memristors. Utilizing Memristors
would require changes in standard protocol and structure. So a lot of work
still remains to be done in this field.
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6. Conclusion
In this report, it is seen that memory circuit elements, and the memristor in
particular, have a natural place in circuit theory. And even if it only came to
fruition in 2008, memristive experimental observations actually date far back in
time , they were just not properly identified. Consequently, the memristor is from
now on as natural as any other circuit elements when electrical phenomena are
to be explained and understood. In many cases the memristor concept also has
the potential to give us a richer and more conceptually correct understanding of
nature as it opens a neglected field in bioelectricity and bioimpedance. Though
the memristor is fundamental, it still rather unknown, meaning that it is very
likely that it has been very underutilized up until today. Therefore, many systems
that earlier were thought to be anomalous, may actually be memristive, or
memcapacitive or meminductive for that matter. It is safe to conclude that
memristor will change circuit design in the 21st century
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7. References
1. Chua, L. O. (1971), "Memristor—The Missing Circuit Element", IEEE Transactions
on Circuit Theory, CT-18 (5): 507–519
6. Palmer, J. (18 May 2012), Memristors in silicon promising for dense, fast
memory, BBC News, retrieved 2012-05-18
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