Nanoscale resistive switching devices: mechanisms and modeling

Resistive switching devices (also termed memristive devices or memristors) are two-terminal nonlinear dynamic electronic devices that can have broad applications in the fields of nonvolatile memory, reconfigurable logic, analog circuits, and neuromorphic computing. Current rapid advances in memristive devices in turn demand better understanding of the switching mechanism and the development of physics-based as well as simplified device models to guide future device designs and circuit-level applications. In this article, we review the physical processes behind resistive switching (memristive) phenomena and discuss the experimental and modeling efforts to explain these effects. In this article three categories of devices, in which the resistive switching effects are driven by cation migration, anion migration, and electronic effects, will be discussed. The fundamental driving forces and the stochastic nature of resistive switching will also be discussed.