Physics model of memristor devices with varying active materials

Abstract

This paper presents a physics-based model for memristors with different active layer materials. The model predicts the effect of changing the active material on the electrical characteristics of the devices. It captures the essential characteristics of the memristor such as coupling between ion mobility and electron current in addition to the nonlinear effects of electric fields. The parameters in the model depend on material (metal-oxide) properties that have impact on the device behavior. These properties are activation energy, escape attempt frequency, hopping parameter and relative permittivity. In this work, the effect of each parameter is highlighted and explained. In addition, the physics-based Matlab model is used to analyze the electrical characteristics of simulated memristor device using the following oxide materials; ZnO, TiO2 and Ta2O5. The simulation results of the model are validated with experimental data reported in the literature. The value of this contribution is to enable the selection of suitable oxide materials for the target memristor using correlated mathematical models.