The mechanism of electroforming of metal oxide memristive switches

Metal and semiconductor oxides are ubiquitous electronic materials. Normally insulating, oxides can change behavior under high electric fields--through 'electroforming' or 'breakdown'--critically affecting CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) logic, DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and flash memory, and tunnel barrier oxides. An initial irreversible electroforming process has been invariably required for obtaining metal oxide resistance switches, which may open urgently needed new avenues for advanced computer memory and logic circuits including ultra-dense non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) and adaptive neuromorphic logic circuits. This electrical switching arises from the coupled motion…