Wirelessly destructible MgO-PVP-Graphene composite based flexible transient memristor for security applications

Transient electronics fabricated using low cost, abundant, biodegradable materials is one of the promising solutions to address the issue of e-waste. This work is the first demonstration of an ultra-fast wirelessly destructible non-volatile memory using a novel MgO-PVP-Gr composite material synthesized by a low cost solution processed method. Optimized synthesis conditions result in the composite based memristor device which exhibits bipolar resistive switching with excellent device performances viz., on/off ratio of 8.5 x 10(3), switching endurance of 500 cycles, data retention of > 10(4) s at lower set and reset voltages of +4 V, -4 V. The mechanism for conduction bridging based resistive switching (RS) is discussed in terms of the formation and rupture of the electrochemically active silver metal clusters. Furthermore, the composite is used to fabricate crossbar memory architecture that finds wide applications in non-volatile memories. Modelling and bending studies on the memristor reveal outstanding mechanical robustness along with stability, primarily attributed to high young's modulus of graphene. Due to the high hydro-dissolution rates of MgO and PVP, the device dissolves completely in water (within 3 s). Finally, wirelessly controlled memory deletion using the mobile application is demonstrated which offers better control for the end user to handle memory devices useful in security applications.