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Deeper understanding of memristive behavior is the only safe way towards maximum exploitation of the favorable properties and the analog nature of this new device technology in innovative applications. This can be achieved through experimental hands-on experience with real devices. However, lab experiments with memristors are a challenging step, especially for the uninitiated. In this direction, this paper presents some important considerations to carry out reliable measurements using an experimental setup composed of off-the-shelf components and an affordable data acquisition system. We specifically show how a transimpedance amplifier can be used to protect the memristor from damage via current compliance limiting, and allow full control over the voltage drop on its terminals. Using the proposed setup, a set of key experiments were carried out on commercial memristors from Knowm Inc., revealing fundamental dependencies of memristor state-tuning properties on the characteristics of the applied pulses and the initial conditions of the devices.

Resistive switching devices—memristors—present a tunable, incremental switching behavior. Tuning their state accurately, repeatedly and in a wide range, makes memristors well-suited for multi-level (ML) resistive memory cells and analog computing applications. In this brief, the tuning approach based on a memristor-resistor voltage divider (VD) is validated experimentally using commercial memristors from Knowm Inc. and a custom circuit. Rapid and controllable multi-state SET tuning is shown with an appreciable range of different resistance values obtained as a function of the amplitude of the applied voltage pulse. The efficiency of the VD is finally compared against an adaptive pulse-based tuning protocol, in terms of circuit overhead, tuning precision, tuning time, and energy consumption, qualifying as a simple hardware solution for fast, reliable, and energy-efficient ML resistance tuning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]