Memristor-The missing circuit element

Abstract

A new two-terminal circuit element-called the memristorcharacterized by a relationship between the charge <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">q(t)\equiv \int_{-\infty}^{t} i(\tau) d \tau</tex> and the flux-linkage <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">\varphi(t)\equiv \int_{- \infty}^{t} v(\tau) d \tau</tex> is introduced as the fourth basic circuit element. An electromagnetic field interpretation of this relationship in terms of a quasi-static expansion of Maxwell's equations is presented. Many circuit-theoretic properties of memistors are derived. It is shown that this element exhibits some peculiar behavior different from that exhibited by resistors, inductors, or capacitors. These properties lead to a number of unique applications which cannot be realized with <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RLC</tex> networks alone. Although a physical memristor device without internal power supply has not yet been discovered, operational laboratory models have been built with the help of active circuits. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the properties and potential applications of memristors.