Experimental demonstration of a second-order memristor and its ability to biorealistically implement synaptic plasticity

Abstract

Memristors have been extensively studied for data storage and low-power computation applications. In this study, we show that memristors offer more than simple resistance change. Specifically, the dynamic evolutions of internal state variables allow an oxide-based memristor to exhibit Ca(2+)-like dynamics that natively encode timing information and regulate synaptic weights. Such a device can be modeled as a second-order memristor and allow the implementation of critical synaptic functions realistically using simple spike forms based solely on spike activity.

Keywords: Ca2+; Memristor; dynamics; resistive switching; second-order; synapse; synaptic plasticity.