Affiliation:
1. RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (RIKEN‐CPR) Wako Saitama 351–0198 Japan
2. Department of Applied Physics Nagoya University Nagoya Aichi 464–8603 Japan
3. Institute for Molecular Science Okazaki Aichi 444–8585 Japan
4. Department of Materials Engineering Science Graduate School of Engineering Science Osaka University Toyonaka Osaka 560–8531 Japan
Abstract
AbstractMemristors, or more generally “memristive systems,” are nonlinear electric components that change their resistance depending on a set of state variables. Meanwhile, negative differential resistance (NDR) is an uncommon electrical property that occurs in a few nonlinear electric components. Such a nonlinear property is now widely used in amplifiers and oscillators. It finds that one of the bilayer‐type nickel‐dithiolene complexes shows nonlinear transport with the NDR property and self‐oscillates under a bias current by simply adding a capacitor in parallel. Surprisingly, the Lissajous figure of this molecular material shows a “pinched hysteresis loop” typical of a memristor, and an inductive reactance emerges when a bias current or voltage is applied to the sample. Herein, a new type of oscillator that uses the NDR and hidden inductive properties of a memristive system is reported. The findings suggest that a memristive system can mimic other passive elements, such as an inductor, and can oscillate itself without having them in the circuit. The oscillation mechanism is straightforward and applicable to a wide variety of memristive materials, including resistors with large negative temperature coefficients, discharge tubes, and even nerve cells in the living body.