Sputtered Silver-Dielectric Structures for Memristor Devices

Memristor, as the name suggests is a contraction of “memory resistor”, a novel device that was proposed almost fifty years but only realized recently for the first time. Memristor, the missing link in the manifold of circuit elements, is expected to usher a wave of innovative integrations in electronics and yield novel functionalities. Memristors would supplement and enhance transistors through integration of memory and logic functionalities and potentially revive analog information processing in computing architectures. Further, since the biological equivalent of a memristor is a neuron, it is also proposed that device architectures with similar structures as a neural synapse can also perform as a memristor.
We have recently discovered that sputter deposition of a dielectric aluminum nitride (AlN) layer on top of a sputtered silver layer can induce the formation of silver nanoparticles that extend a few hundred nanometers into the AlN layer –a basis for a novel memristor.
Accordingly, we propose a collaborative project between University of Toronto and University of Manchester. The Advanced Photovoltaics-Photonics and Devices research group at UofT will synthesize the devices with memristor architectures, and the Photon Science Institute at UofM will provide advanced electrical and optical characterization and circuit modeling of the various device architectures.

Faculty Supervisor:

Nazir Kherani

Student:

Partner:

University of Manchester

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: