Memristors

By,

Saransh Singh

Contents
Introduction Basic Memristor Model V-I Characteristics Formula for Memristance Types for Memristors Working of Memristors Merits and Demerits Possible Applications

Conclusion

Introduction
Currently known fundamental passive elements Resistors,
Capacitors & Inductors. Leon O. Chua formulated Memristor theory in his paper Memristor-The Missing Circuit Element in 1971. Later Memristor was named the 4th Fundamental element It is a 2 terminal passive device, relates charge to flux

 Behaves like a nonlinear resistor with memory. The memristor is currently under development by a team at

Hewlett Packard (HP).

Combination of the 4 Variables

Integral of current is charge dq/dt = I (amperes) Integral of voltage is flux d/dt = V (volts) Resistor dv = R di , dv/di = R(ohms)

Capacitor dq = C dv , dq/dv = C(farad)

Inductor d = L di , d/di = L (henry)

d/dq = ?

What is Memristance ?
Memristance is a property of an electronic component. When charge flows in one direction, its resistance increases, and if direction is reversed, resistance decreases. When v=0, charge flow stops & component will remember the last resistance it had.

When the flow of charge regains, the resistance of the circuit

will be the value when it was last active.

 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

Basic Memristor Model

Doped: region of low resistance Undoped: region of high resistance R off : Resistance when w/d=0 R on: Resistance when w/d=1

V-I Characteristics
In ordinary resistors there is a linear relationship between
current and voltage However, for memristors a similar graph is a little more complicated These two straight line curves may be interpreted as two distinct resistance states with the remainder of the curve as transition regions between these two states.

Formula for Memristance

The Basic Fromula is

The 2nd term in the parentheses which contribute more to

memristance becomes larger when D is in the nanometer range
Thus memristance is important characteristics of a device when critical dimension shrink to nanometer scale

Types of Memristors
Spintronic Memristor
Spin Torque Transfer Magneto resistance Titanium dioxide memristor Polymeric memristor Spin memristive systems

Magnetite memristive systems

Resonant tunneling diode memristor

Working of Memristors
Spintronic Memristor
Spin of electrons Magnetism Magneto resistance principal Electrons flow alters the magnetization state

 Titanium Memristors
o Two thin layer sandwich, 1st layer is oxygen deficient

o The oxygen vacancies act as charge carriers and this implies that the depleted layer has a much lower resistance than the

non-depleted layer
o When an electric field is applied, the oxygen vacancies drift, changing the boundary between the high-resistance and low-

resistance layers

Titanium Memristor

Memristors as a Storage element

Nonvolatile
Energy required during switching Memristor as switches in crossbar architecture

Crossbar Architecture
Connected mesh of perpendicular wires Crossing wires connected by switch

Switch closed applying positive voltage

Switch opened by reversed voltage

Merits and Demerits

Merits: Eliminates delay Speed inversely proportional to size Large density 1terabit/cm2 Analog data storage possible

Demerits: Dissipates heat No design standards Needs defect engineering

Possible Applications
Cheaper Memristor made chips: They are nanoscale devices
with unique properties: a variable resistance and the ability to remember the resistance even when the power is off

A single memristor can perform the same logic functions as

multiple transistors, making them a promising way to increase computer power Memristors could also prove to be a faster, smaller, more energy-efficient alternative to flash storage

 Memristor as Digital and Analog: A memristive device can function in both digital and analog forms In digital mode, it could substitute conventional solid-state memories (Flash) with high-speed and less steeply priced nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM)

 No Rebooting: The memristor's memory has consequences The reason computers have to be rebooted every time they are turned on is that their logic circuits are incapable of holding their bits after the power is shut off But because a memristor can remember voltages, a memristordriven computer would arguably never need a reboot

Conclusion
Latest technology, High speed memory devices, Low power

requirements
By redesigning certain types of circuits to include memristors, it is possible to obtain the same function with fewer

components, making the circuit itself less expensive and

significantly decreasing its power consumption

 Memristors made to replace flash memory will likely appear first; HP's goal is to offer them by 2012 Beyond that, memristors will likely replace both DRAM and hard disks in the 2014-to-2016 time frame

As for memristor-based analog computers, that step may take

20-plus years