title: A ferroelectric memristor.
abstract: Memristors are continuously tunable resistors that emulate biological synapses. Conceptualized in the 1970s, they traditionally operate by voltage-induced displacements of matter, although the details of the mechanism remain under debate. Purely electronic memristors based on well-established physical phenomena with albeit modest resistance changes have also emerged. Here we demonstrate that voltage-controlled domain configurations in ferroelectric tunnel barriers yield memristive behaviour with resistance variations exceeding two orders of magnitude and a 10 ns operation speed. Using models of ferroelectric-domain nucleation and growth, we explain the quasi-continuous resistance variations and derive a simple analytical expression for the memristive effect. Our results suggest new opportunities for ferroelectrics as the hardware basis of future neuromorphic computational architectures.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales, 1 Avenue Augustin Fresnel, Campus de l'Ecole Polytechnique, 91767 Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chanthbouala
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Ryan O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Cherifi
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bouzehouane
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fusil
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Moya
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Cyrile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deranlot
authors.forename: Neil D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bibes
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barthélémy
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grollier