Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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TUT: Tutorials

TUT 3: Resistive Switching: From basic physics of memristive devices to neuromorphic systems (joint session HL/TUT)

TUT 3.2: Tutorial

Sunday, March 31, 2019, 16:45–17:30, H4

Memristors and memristive devices: theory, physics, criticisms — •Thomas Mussenbrock — Brandenburg University of Technology, Chair of Electrodynamics and Physical Electronics, 03046 Cottbus, Germany

The research in the field of memristive devices dates back to the 1970s when Chua introduced his idea of a missing lumped circuit element, which he named memristor. The idea has emerged a considerable interest only after 2008 when researchers at HP Labs linked their resistive switching device to Chuas’s theory. Today, memristive (or synonymously resistive switching) devices have been identified as promising candidates for future non-volatile memory applications due to their distinct key features, the most important of which are i) low power consumption, ii) passivity, and iii) scalability into the nanometer scale. Beyond their potential applications as non-volatile memories, memristive devices turned out to be applicable as artificial synapses in neuromorphic circuits. It is interesting to notice that a large number of different devices and concepts turn out to show memristive behavior, while the underlying physics is not completely understood in most of the cases. Furthermore, the scientific dispute is still ongoing, whether the devices which show memristive behavior are in fact memristors in terms of Chua’s theory. This contribution is intended to provide an introduction to memristors and memristive devices. Theoretical aspects as well as fundamental physical phenomena are discussed, while the criticism regarding the memristor concept is not concealed.