Memristor Device for Security and Radiation Applications

The first physical demonstration of a non-volatile resistive-switching memory based on the nanostructured Pt/TiO₂/Pt metal/insulator/metal stack from HP, has spurred the scientific community to develop memristive devices for a wide variety of applications. Owing to low-power and ultra-fast switching capabilities, memristors with nanoscale thickness geometry have been extensively investigated as potential replacements for flash memory technology in simple analog- and digital- computing applications. In Addition, both scalability and interconnectivity of memristors, through brain-inspired computing, have sparked a considerable move toward advancing of next-generation intelligent computing systems. On the horizon, other potential uses of the memristor have also emerged, particularly in sensing where attractive measurable changes in the I–V fingerprint of some device configurations have been demonstrated under certain types of extrinsic disturbances. Additionally, the unique and chaotic I–V response of some memristors opens the door for potential applications in hardware security. This chapter reports on novel approaches to utilize the electrical characteristics of the fabricated memristive devices for radiation sensing and security applications.