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Flexible electronics: Lasting memories are in sight

Nature Reviews Materials volume 3, Article number: 18002 (2018) Cite this article

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Resistive memory devices, or memristors, are based on a metal–insulator–metal sandwich structure with a resistance that can be switched between high and low states. The switch from high to low resistance is triggered by an electrical stimulus. Strikingly, the specific resistance state is retained, even after the stimulus has been removed. This memory mechanism is based on the formation and rupture of a conductive filament, governed by the migration of ions from the metal electrode, which is initiated by a positive voltage. Combining this feature of a memristor, to retain resistance information, with a photosensitive material that changes resistance in response to light exposure offers the opportunity to both sense and record applied light.

The researchers fabricated a uniform array of image sensors based on aligned semiconductor micrometre-sized wires using a near-field direct-printing method. The photoresponse of the sensors to UV light can be adjusted by varying the printing density, thereby enabling a broad and accurate response range. A visual memory array is then realized by integrating the image sensors with memristors, with each pixel consisting of one sensor and one memristor. “When external light is applied on the memory array, the resistance state of the image sensor changes from high to low resistance owing to the light-sensitive oxide semiconductor. The reduction of resistance in the image sensor leads to an increase in partial voltage on the memristor. When the partial voltage reaches the set voltage of the memristor, the resistance switches from OFF to ON,” explains Shen. The ON state is maintained through the formation of the conductive filament until a reset voltage is applied. As a result, the incident light on the array is memorized and can be controllably erased, making it possible to store information and then reuse the device.

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References

  1. Chen, S. et al. An artificial flexible visual memory system based on an UV-motivated memristor. Adv. Mater.https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201705400 (2018)

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  1. Christine-Maria Horejs
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Horejs, CM. Flexible electronics: Lasting memories are in sight. Nat Rev Mater 3, 18002 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2018.2

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