Polymeric Memristor Based Artificial Synapses with Ultra‐Wide Operating Temperature

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 35; no. 23; pp. e2209728 - n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Jiayu, Qian, Yangzhou, Li, Wen, Yu, Songcheng, Ke, Yunxin, Qian, Haowen, Lin, Yen‐Hung, Hou, Cheng‐Hung, Shyue, Jing‐Jong, Zhou, Jia, Chen, Ye, Xu, Jiangping, Zhu, Jintao, Yi, Mingdong, Huang, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-06-2023
• Subjects: Cryogenic temperature; Depth profiling; High temperature; Ion migration; Mass spectrometry; Materials science; Memristors; Neuromorphic computing; Operating temperature; operational stability; organic semiconductors; Photoelectrons; Robustness; Room temperature; solution process; Synapses; Temperature; memristors; organic semiconductors; solution process; operational stability; neuromorphic computing
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202209728

Neuromorphic electronics, being inspired by how the brain works, hold great promise to the successful implementation of smart artificial systems. Among several neuromorphic hardware issues, a robust device functionality under extreme temperature is of particular importance for practical applications. Given that the organic memristors for artificial synapse applications are demonstrated under room temperature, achieving a robust device performance at extremely low or high temperature is still utterly challenging. In this work, the temperature issue is addressed by tuning the functionality of the solution‐based organic polymeric memristor. The optimized memristor demonstrates a reliable performance under both the cryogenic and high‐temperature environments. The unencapsulated organic polymeric memristor shows a robust memristive response under test temperature ranging from 77 to 573 K. Utilizing X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time‐of‐flight secondary‐ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) depth profiling, the device working mechanism is unveiled by comparing the compositional profiles of the fresh and written organic polymeric memristors. A reversible ion migration induced by an applied voltage contributes to the characteristic switching behavior of the memristor. Herein, both the robust memristive response achieved at extreme temperatures and the verified device working mechanism will remarkably accelerate the development of memristors in neuromorphic systems.
An organic polymeric memristive device using MDMO‐PPV is demonstrated. The unencapsulated devices maintain reliable memristive switching behavior under an ultra‐wide temperature range (77–573 K). XPS and ToF‐SIMS depth profiling techniques are utilized to visualize the kinetic process of ion migration in the device. This work may allow the use of organic memristors as robust artificial synapses in ultra‐wide temperature range for future neuromorphic applications.