Interface engineering of amorphous gallium oxide crossbar array memristors for neuromorphic computing

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of crossbar array memristors using amorphous gallium oxide (a-GaO x ) for implementing high-speed and wide-dynamic range artificial synaptic functions. The a-GaO x memristors were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition in an argon atmosphere using a platinum bottom electrode and an indium tin oxide (ITO) top electrode. We revealed that the interface engineering at a-GaO x /ITO is the key to demonstrating exemplary resistive switching operation. Stable counter figure-8 hysteresis loops were obtained by voltage application, leading to the successful demonstration of non-volatile retention over 104 s and the multi-level conductance modulation. Furthermore, spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) was artificially implemented by applying pre- and post-spike voltages to the device. Consequently, significant weight-change rates were achieved in the asymmetric STDP imitation, which can be attributed to the reliable resistive switching properties of the device with an extensive dynamic range. These results indicate that the a-GaO x crossbar array memristor is a promising hardware platform for neuromorphic computing applications.