EPJ ST Highlight - Showcasing the possibilities of memristor circuits

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Published on 13 January 2023

The papers presented in this special issue explore several unique capabilities of memristor-based systems: including multistability, nonlinearity, and chaotic dynamics

First demonstrated in 2008, the memristor is an electrical component which can limit the amount of current in a circuit, while remembering the amount of charge it conveyed in the past. Yet despite its numerous potential applications, the memristor’s commercial rollout has so far been restricted by the high manufacturing costs of its nano-scale electrical components.

To improve both the range of applications and theoretical understanding of memristors, there is a need to investigate their fundamental features, while diversifying the tools used to model their behaviours. In this special issue, the journal EPJ ST presents 25 new papers showcasing the widely-varied possibilities by memristor systems, and the mathematical principles required to understand and model them.

Some of the papers focus on memristor-based systems which emulate the operation of the brain – where intricate networks of neurons exchange and respond to electrical signals. There is also an extensive investigation of multistability: which allows multiple steady states of equilibrium to exist in a system at the same time. Additional papers explore multiple different types of nonlinear behaviour, in which changes to the memristor’s electrical output are not proportional to changes in its input.

Two further papers investigate methods for controlling and implementing chaotic memristor systems: which exhibit apparently random behaviour, but actually feature intricate underlying patterns and interconnections between oscillating currents. Two final papers explore the potential application of chaotic memristor systems in the field of image encryption, which would allow users to share images privately and securely.

The authors of this special issue hope that the 25 papers will contribute to constructive discussions about memristor-based systems, and the methods used to model their unique behaviours. In inspiring new lines of research, this could bring the commercial rollout of memristors a step closer: an advance which may one day prove to revolutionise the capabilities of electrical circuits.