Reply to arXiv:2102.11963, An experimental demonstration of the memristor test, Y. V. Pershin, J. Kim, T. Datta, M. Di Ventra, 23 Feb 2021. Does an ideal memristor truly exist?


Abstract in English

After a decade of research, we developed a prototype device and experimentally demonstrated that the direct phi q interaction could be memristive, as predicted by Chua in 1971. With a constant input current to avoid any parasitic inductor effect, our device meets three criteria for an ideal memristor: a single valued, nonlinear, continuously differentiable, and strictly monotonically increasing constitutive phi q curve, a pinched v i hysteresis loop, and a charge only dependent resistance. Our work represents a step forward in terms of experimentally verifying the memristive flux charge interaction but we have not reached the final because this prototype still suffers from two serious limitations: 1, a superficial but dominant inductor effect (behind which the above memristive fingerprints hide) due to its inductor-like core structure, and 2. bistability and dynamic sweep of a continuous resistance range. In this article, we also discuss how to make a fully functioning ideal memristor with multiple or an infinite number of stable states and no parasitic inductance, and give a number of suggestions, such as open structure, nanoscale size, magnetic materials with cubic anisotropy (or even isotropy), and sequential switching of the magnetic domains. Additionally, we respond to a recent challenge from arXiv.org that claims that our device is simply an inductor with memory since our device did not pass their designed capacitor-memristor circuit test. Contrary to their conjecture that an ideal memristor may not exist or may be a purely mathematical concept, we remain optimistic that researchers will discover an ideal memristor in nature or make one in the laboratory based on our current work.

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