Dipole modulated switching in an energy-efficient flexible organic bilayer memristor

An electroforming-free and self-compliance flexible organic memristor has been developed using an organic–organic bilayer interface. A phase-separated 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TP): poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) bilayer sandwiched between silver and copper electrode patterned in the form of a crossbar mounted on a polyvinyl alcohol substrate served as the organic memristor. The switching behavior and memory characteristics of the device are found to be affected by blending ratios of TP and P3HT. At the blending ratio of 3:1, the resistive switching device exhibited a memristive behavior with a high ON/OFF ratio (>103), prolonged data retention (>105 s), and a low switching voltage (<±1 V). In contrast, the 1:1 blend configuration yields a write-once-read-many memory with an ON/OFF ratio of ∼105. Interfacial dipole orientation and π–π stacked transport are demonstrated to govern resistive switching in these phase-separated bilayer organic memristors. Along with low power consumption, the crossbar architecture and flexibility of the device make it a promising candidate for energy-efficient in-memory computing.