Overview: Memristive devices, circuits and systems

With conventional CMOS technology approaching fundamental scaling limits, novel nanotechnologies offer great promise for VLSI integration at nanometer scales. The memristor, or "memory resistor," is a novel nanoelectronic device that holds great promise for emerging VLSI applications. Essentially, a memristor is a programmable resistor whose resistance is altered based on specified toggle conditions. Furthermore, memristors are non-volatile such that the state of the device remains until the next toggle condition. This paper will provide an overview of memristors and memristive systems with a particular focus on applications for emerging VLSI circuits and systems. Examples of memristor based memory and logic circuits are to be discussed in detail including device modeling, memristor memory analysis, and memristor based logic. While the examples shown are focused on digital applications, memristors also hold great promise for analog, mixed signal and biomedical systems. These several potential applications will be discussed as part of this overview.