The rapid development of information technology has led to urgent requirements for high efficiency and ultralow power consumption. In the past few decades, neuromorphic computing has drawn extensive attention due to its promising capability in processing massive data with extremely low power consumption. Here, we offer a comprehensive review on emerging artificial neuromorphic devices and their applications. In light of the inner physical processes, we classify the devices into nine major categories and discuss their respective strengths and weaknesses. We will show that anion/cation migration-based memristive devices, phase change, and spintronic synapses have been quite mature and possess excellent stability as a memory device, yet they still suffer from challenges in weight updating linearity and symmetry. Meanwhile, the recently developed electrolyte-gated synaptic transistors have demonstrated outstanding energy efficiency, linearity, and symmetry, but their stability and scalability still need to be optimized. Other emerging synaptic structures, such as ferroelectric, metal–insulator transition based, photonic, and purely electronic devices also have limitations in some aspects, therefore leading to the need for further developing high-performance synaptic devices. Additional efforts are also demanded to enhance the functionality of artificial neurons while maintaining a relatively low cost in area and power, and it will be of significance to explore the intrinsic neuronal stochasticity in computing and optimize their driving capability, etc. Finally, by looking into the correlations between the operation mechanisms, material systems, device structures, and performance, we provide clues to future material selections, device designs, and integrations for artificial synapses and neurons.

A comprehensive review on emerging artificial neuromorphic devices

Extensive calculations based on density functional theory have been carried out to understand the origin of magnetism in undoped ZnO thin films as found in recent experiments. The observed magnetism is confirmed to be due to Zn, instead of O, vacancy. The main source of the magnetic moment, however, arises from the unpaired 2p electrons at O sites surrounding the Zn vacancy with each nearest-neighbor O atom carrying a magnetic moment ranging from 0.490 to 0.740 B. Moreover, the study of vacancy-vacancy interactions indicates that in the ground state, the magnetic moments induced by Zn vacancies prefer to ferromagnetically couple with the antiferromagnetic state lying 44 meV higher in energy. Since this is larger than the thermal energy at room temperature, the ferromagnetic state can be stable against thermal fluctuations. Calculations and discussions are also extended to ZnO nanowires that have larger surface to volume ratio. Here, the Zn vacancies are found to lead to the ferromagnetic state too. The present theoretical study not only demonstrates that ZnO samples can be magnetic even without transition-metal doping but also suggests that introducing Zn vacancy is a natural and an effective way to fabricate magnetic ZnO nanostructures. In addition, vacancy mediated magnetic ZnO nanostructures may have certain advantages over transition-metal doped systems in biomedical applications.

https://absimage.aps.org/image/MAR08/MWS_MAR08-2007-004197.pdf

Zinc Vacancy induced magnetism in ZnO thin films and nanowires

Resistive switching (RS) phenomena are reversible changes in the metastable resistance state induced by external electric fields. After discovery ∼50 years ago, RS phenomena have attracted great attention due to their potential application in next-generation electrical devices. Considerable research has been performed to understand the physical mechanisms of RS and explore the feasibility and limits of such devices. There have also been several reviews on RS that attempt to explain the microscopic origins of how regions that were originally insulators can change into conductors. However, little attention has been paid to the most important factor in determining resistance: how conducting local regions are interconnected. Here, we provide an overview of the underlying physics behind connectivity changes in highly conductive regions under an electric field. We first classify RS phenomena according to their characteristic current–voltage curves: unipolar, bipolar, and threshold switchings. Second, we outline the microscopic origins of RS in oxides, focusing on the roles of oxygen vacancies: the effect of concentration, the mechanisms of channel formation and rupture, and the driving forces of oxygen vacancies. Third, we review RS studies from the perspective of statistical physics to understand connectivity change in RS phenomena. We discuss percolation model approaches and the theory for the scaling behaviors of numerous transport properties observed in RS. Fourth, we review various switching-type conversion phenomena in RS: bipolar-unipolar, memory-threshold, figure-of-eight, and counter-figure-of-eight conversions. Finally, we review several related technological issues, such as improvement in high resistance fluctuations, sneak-path problems, and multilevel switching problems.

Resistive switching phenomena: A review of statistical physics approaches

The basic unit of information in filamentary-based resistive switching memories is physically stored in a conductive filament. Therefore, the overall performance of the device is indissolubly related to the properties of such filament. In this Letter, we report for the first time on the three-dimensional (3D) observation of the shape of the conductive filament. The observation of the filament is done in a nanoscale conductive-bridging device, which is programmed under real operative conditions. To obtain the 3D-information we developed a dedicated tomography technique based on conductive atomic force microscopy. The shape and size of the conductive filament are obtained in three-dimensions with nanometric resolution. The observed filament presents a conical shape with the narrow part close to the inert-electrode. On the basis of this shape, we conclude that the dynamic filament-growth is limited by the cation transport. In addition, we demonstrate the role of the programming current, which clearly influen...

Three-dimensional observation of the conductive filament in nanoscaled resistive memory devices.

Volatile threshold switching (TS) and non-volatile memory switching (MS) are two typical resistive switching (RS) phenomena in oxides, which could form the basis for memory, analog circuits, and neuromorphic applications. Interestingly, TS and MS can be coexistent and converted in a single device under the suitable external excitation. However, the origin of the transition from TS to MS is still unclear due to the lack of direct experimental evidence. Here, conversion between TS and MS induced by conductive filament (CF) morphology in Ag/SiO2/Pt device is directly observed using scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The MS mechanism is related to the formation and dissolution of CF consisting of continuous Ag nanocrystals. The TS originates from discontinuous CF with isolated Ag nanocrystals. The results of current–voltage fitting and Kelvin probe force microscopy further indicate that the TS mechanism is related to the modulation of the tunneling barrier between Ag nanocrystals in CF. This work provides clearly experimental evidence to deepen understanding of the mechanism for RS in oxide-electrolyte-based resistive switching memory, contributing to better control of the two RS behaviors to establish high-performance emerging devices.

Direct Observation of Conversion Between Threshold Switching and Memory Switching Induced by Conductive Filament Morphology

Resistive memory is one of the most promising candidates for next-generation nonvolatile memory technology due to its variety of advantages, such as simple structure and low-power consumption. Bipolar resistive switching behavior was observed in epitaxial ZnO nanoislands with base diameters and heights ranging around 30 and 40 nm, respectively. All four different states (initial, electroformed, ON, and OFF) of the nanoscale resistive memories were measured by conductive atomic force microscopy immediately after the voltage sweeping was performed. Auger electron spectroscopy and other experiments were also carried out to investigate the switching mechanism. The formation and rupture of conducting filaments induced by oxygen vacancy migration are responsible for the resistive switching behaviors of ZnO resistive memories at the nanoscale.

Resistive switching in single epitaxial ZnO nanoislands.

Resistive memory has attracted a great deal of attention as an alternative to contemporary flash memory. Here we demonstrate an interesting phenomenon that multimode resistive switching, i.e. threshold-like, self-rectifying and ordinary bipolar switching, can be observed in one self-assembled single-crystalline ZnO nanoisland with base diameter and height ranging around 30 and 40 nm on Si at different levels of current compliance. Current-voltage characteristics, conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) and piezoresponse force microscopy results show that the threshold-like and self-rectifying types of switching are controlled by the movement of oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanoisland between the C-AFM tip and Si substrate while ordinary bipolar switching is controlled by formation and rupture of conducting nano-filaments. Threshold-like switching leads to a very small switching power density of 1 × 103 W/cm2.

/pdf/multimode-resistive-switching-in-single-zno-nanoisland-3past07qm9.pdf

Multimode Resistive Switching in Single ZnO Nanoisland System

We demonstrate current self-complianced and self-rectifying bipolar resistive switching in an Ag-electroded Na-doped ZnO nanowire device. The resistive switching is controlled by the formation and rupture of an Ag nanoisland chain on the surface along the Na-doped ZnO nanowire. Na-doping plays important roles in both the self-compliance and self-rectifying properties.

Current self-complianced and self-rectifying resistive switching in Ag-electroded single Na-doped ZnO nanowires

All Zn1−x
 Er
 x
 O (x=0.04, 0.05, and 0.17) films deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering exhibit the mixture of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases at room temperature. The estimated magnetic moment per Er ion decreases with the increase of Er concentration. The temperature dependence of the magnetization indicates that there is no intermetallic ErZn buried in the films. The ferromagnetism is attributed to the Er ions substitution for Zn2+ in ZnO lattices, and it can be interpreted by the bound-magnetic-polaron model.

/pdf/magnetic-properties-of-er-doped-zno-films-prepared-by-9a36njnl2s.pdf

Magnetic properties of Er-doped ZnO films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is one of the most promising nonvolatile memory technologies because of its high potential to replace traditional charge-based memory, which is approaching its scaling limit. To fully realize the potential of the RRAM, it can be important to develop a unique device with current self-rectification, which provides a solution to suppress sneak current in crossbar arrays, and self-compliance, which eliminates the current limiter. In this paper, self-rectifying resistive switching is demonstrated in Ga-doped ZnO single nanowire devices; the current is not only self-rectifying but also self-compliance for Sb-doped single nanowire devices. Multilevel resistive switching has also been achieved for Sb-doped ZnO single nanowire devices by using different SET voltages. Furthermore, the doping of Ga and Sb narrows the switching voltage distribution greatly.

Jing Qi

Papers

Resistive switching in single epitaxial ZnO nanoislands.

Multimode Resistive Switching in Single ZnO Nanoisland System

Current self-complianced and self-rectifying resistive switching in Ag-electroded single Na-doped ZnO nanowires

Magnetic properties of Er-doped ZnO films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

Resistive switching in Ga- and Sb-doped ZnO single nanowire devices