Flexible memristors as electronic synapses for neuro-inspired computation based on scotch tape-exfoliated mica substrates

Flexible memristor devices based on plastic substrates have attracted considerable attention due to their applications in wearable computers and integrated circuits. However, most plastic-substrate memristors cannot function or be grown in high-temperature environments. In this study, scotch-tape-exfoliated mica was used as the flexible memristor substrate in order to resolve these high-temperature issues. Our TiN/ZHO/IGZO memristor, which was constructed using a thin (10 μm) mica substrate, has superior flexibility and thermostability. After bending it 103 times, the device continues to exhibit exceptional electrical characteristics. It can also be implemented for transitions between high and low resistance states, even in temperatures of up to 300 °C. More importantly, the biological synaptic characteristics of paired-pulse facilitation/depression (PPF/PPD) and spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) were observed through applying different pulse measurement modes. This work demonstrates that flexible memristor devices on mica substrates may potentially allow for the realization of high-temperature memristor applications for biologically-inspired computing systems.