Synaptic Plasticity of a Microfluidic Memristor with a Temporary Memory Function Based on an Ionic Liquid in a Capillary Tube

Fluidic memristor devices have received tremendous attention for smooth resistance switching in artificial synapses due to the ion migration, concentration polarization, and redox reactions mechanism. Here we provide a novel method of preparing microfluidic memristor with superior stability, robustness, and ultralow cost. The structure of the two-terminal memristor device is Cu/[MMIm][Cl]: H2O/Cu, C5H9N2Cl. The ionic liquid of 1,3-dimethylimidazole chloride salt was used as representative IL to display resistive memory properties in a cylindrical microchannel of a capillary. The fabricated device shows hysteretic and bipolar I–V characteristics of memristor, which can respond to external stimuli, e.g., space length between two electrodes and applied voltage. Meanwhile, this artificial synapse can mimic synaptic plasticity under various pulse stimuli stably and repeatedly, which results in temporary memory behavior. Such device exhibits great potential value in the area of neuromorphic artificial synapses and memory states.