Publication date: 10th April 2024
Redox-based resistive memory devices, also known as memristors or ReRAM, are highly promising elements for embedded nonvolatile memory, in-memory computing, and neuromorphic computing. Such devices switch resistance states through the electrochemical migration of oxygen vacancies in transition metal oxides. In this talk, we present our recent research on the materials thermodynamics of ionic motion in these oxygen-based memristors. Using a combination of device measurements, materials characterization, and multiscale physical modeling, we find that oxygen vacancies do not obey Fick’s First Law of diffusion as conventionally believed, but instead undergo composition phase separation This phase separation may result in chemical diffusion against the concentration gradients, thereby enabling certain filaments to be stable indefinitely from a thermodynamic perspective and would enable such devices to retain information for long periods. Finally, we utilize this understanding of phase separation in transition metal oxides to engineer retention time in a new class of three-terminal electrochemical memory. Our work shows the critical role of defect-chemical relationships in enabling ionic devices with the necessary performance metrics.