Molecular Crystal Memristor

The emergence of memristors offers a revolutionary solution for achieving in-memory computing at the hardware level. However, existing memristors suffer from the inherent channel materials damage during cyclical resistive switching, rendering excessive energy consumption and poor endurance. Herein we contribute an innovative Molecular Crystal Memristor, of which the representative channel material, Sb2O3, possesses a unique molecular crystal structure where molecular cages are interconnected via van der Waals forces. This distinct arrangement allows for the migration of ions through intermolecular spaces with minimal energy consumption while intactly preserving the pristine crystal structure after cyclical switching. Our Molecular Crystal Memristor thus exhibits incredibly low energy consumption of 26 zJ, with prominent endurance surpassing 109 cycles. Moreover, the memristors consistently demonstrate reconfigurable non-volatile and volatile resistive switching behavior, within a wide device scale from micrometer to nanometer. We also demonstrated their scalability by fabricating massive Mb-level crossbar arrays on an 8-inch wafer. Finally, we realized the Reservoir Computing functionality on a single CMOS-integrated chip made from our Molecular Crystal Memristor, achieving 100% accuracy in dynamic vision recognition. These breakthroughs herald the practical application of memristors in non-von Neumann computing architectures, with the potential to reshape the future of computing technologies.