A Trivial Implementation of an Analog Spiking Neuron Using a Memristor, for Less than $1

Abstract

Memristors are finding widespread applications in neuromorphic circuits due to their unique resistance memory effect. Nonvolatile memristors are used for implementing artificial synapses and volatile ones for spiking neurons. An important example of the latter is the memristive neurons based on Mott insulators. However, fabricating and understanding volatile memristors based on Mott materials remains a difficult challenge, which hinders their adoption. In recent years, we have been developing an alternative approach based on a novel volatile device that is trivially made with a thyristor and a resistor. These two ordinary out-of-the-shelf conventional electronic components make our memristive device trivial to implement, widely available, reliable and extremely affordable. The key nontrivial insight was to recognize that it exhibits a memristive current-voltage characteristic qualitatively identical to that of Mott insulators. Here, we introduce in detail our device and show how it can be used to implement spiking neurons. We discuss the example of a bursting-neuron circuit model, which exhibits spiking behaviors in remarkable agreement to some observed in biological bursting neurons of mammals. The simplicity and low cost of our neuromorphic hardware makes it an ideal platform for implementing electroceutical medical devices for neuropathologies like epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.