Oxide Based Memristive Nanodevices

Transition metal oxide thin films play an indispensable role in nanoelectronic and nanoionic devices [1–3] proposed for the next generation non-volatile memory [4–14], neuromorphic computing [15], stateful logic [16] and hybrid CMOS–Memristor circuits [17]. The promise of metal oxide thin films comes from their wide range of electrical properties, ranging from insulating, semiconducting, metallic to even superconducting behavior [3] with exquisite dependence on the doping level. A trace level of compositional change in oxides induces a large amount of defects, which serve as native dopants in the oxide films and dramatically change their conductance [18]. Microscopically in a thin film device, the slight compositional change is in the embodiment of ionic motion, which gives rise to memristive switching under an electric field [19–21].