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Probing memristive switching in nanoionic devices

Nature Electronics volume 1, pages 274–287 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Memristive switching in nanoionic devices involves the interplay between physical, electrochemical and thermochemical processes, which can occur in the bulk or at interfaces. Switching in these devices has been studied using techniques based on imaging and spectroscopy, as well as scanning probe and electrical approaches. The mechanistic insights obtained using these methods have informed the technological development of nanoionic devices over the past few decades, and such knowledge will be key to their further optimization and design. Here we review the different approaches that have been used to examine the underlying processes and dynamics of resistive switching. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques and consider the critical testing conditions and sample requirements needed in these analyses. We show that electron beam and nanotip-based microscopy techniques possess high spatial resolution, which is suited to observing morphological or microstructural properties. However, determining the compositional, valent or local structural attributes demands quantitative, spectroscopic approaches. Based on the respective strengths and weaknesses of the characterization techniques, we propose a general framework for the physical characterization of memristive devices.

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Fig. 1: Overview of existing techniques for nanoionic memristor characterization.
Fig. 2: Direct observation of conducting filaments in nanoionic memristors at different scales.

reproduced from ref. 71, AIP (a); ref. 72, AIP (b); ref. 30, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (c); ref. 27, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (d).

Fig. 3: Mapping and spectral analyses of memristors based on spectroscopic techniques.

adapted from ref. 77, ACS (d); ref. 31, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (h); ref. 96, ACS (l); ref. 98, Wiley (p).

Fig. 4: SPM techniques for understanding resistive switching.
Fig. 5: In situ characterization of the resistive switching mechanism.

reproduced from ref. 20, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (a–o); ref. 62, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (p–v).

Fig. 6: General strategy for the physical characterization of nanoionic memristors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate fruitful discussions with R. S. Williams, W. D. Lu, J. J. Yang, D. Ielmini, U. Celano, X. Zhang and P. Li, and assistance from J. Zhu and W. Sun. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Programme of China (2017YFA0207600), Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission Programme (Z161100000216148) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61674006, 61421005). Y.Y. acknowledges support from the 1000 Youth Talents Programme of China.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Microelectronic Devices and Circuits, Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Yuchao Yang & Ru Huang

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  1. Yuchao Yang
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  2. Ru Huang
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Y.Y. conceived and prepared the manuscript. Both authors carried out the research, performed discussions on the content, and revised the manuscript at all stages.

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Correspondence to Yuchao Yang.

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Yang, Y., Huang, R. Probing memristive switching in nanoionic devices. Nat Electron 1, 274–287 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-018-0069-1

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