Photoresistive switching of multiferroic thin film memristors Nataša M. Samardžić a, ⁎, Branimir Bajac b , Jovan Bajić a , Elvira Đurđić c , Bojan Miljević b , Vladimir V. Srdić b , Goran M. Stojanović a a Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia b Department for materials engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia c Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia abstract article info Article history: Received 31 May 2017 Received in revised form 21 August 2017 Accepted 30 October 2017 Available online 31 October 2017 Activation and changes in the memristive switching behaviour with photon signals are becoming especially at- tractive due to advantages of photon signal in comparison with electrical signal, which can significantly expand possible applications of the memristors. In this paper, we present electrical response of multiferroic thin film memristor of structure Pt/BaTiO 3 /NiFe 2 O 4 /BaTiO 3 /Au, under various illumination conditions. Results indicate that combining photonic and electronic excitation qualifies multiferroic memristor as an appropriate candidate for UV sensing application, while it can also provide multilevel switching operation. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Multiferroic memristors Illumination conditions Photeresistive switching 1. Introduction The existence of a memristor (MEMory ResISTOR) as a fourth basic circuit element relating flux-linkage to charge had been postulated by Chua in 1971 [1]. A memristor behaves like a nonlinear resistor with memory depending on the past history of the current or voltage in the device [2], and represents a passive electronic component which has a pinched hysteresis loop in its current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. The memory resistance (memristance) of memristors can originate from different physical mechanisms such as self-heating, chemical reactions, ionic transfer, spin polarization, or phase transitions [3]. The change in the memristance of a memristor is caused by the cumulative number of charges q flowing through the memristor [4]. In this context, memristance actually defines the relationship between charge and magnetic flux. From Chua's paper [5] up to now, there have been many studies with the topics on modeling [6], operational principles [7] and manufacturing processes of memristors [8,9]. The first memristor concept was based on the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structures in which the layers of metal oxides like TiO 2 were used [10]. Dielectric layer was fabricated with a conductive doped region and an insulating undoped region between two metal electrodes [11]. Memristive switching mechanism for metal/oxide/metal nanodevices, constructed from Pt/TiO 2 /Pt structure was presented in [12]. After- wards, a series of new memristor concepts were described, such as: (a) sandwich-type memristor composed of Ni/TiOx/p-Si/Ni structure [10], Si/ZnO/NiO/Au [13], Ti/Pt/LiNbO 3 /Ti/Pt [14], (b) molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanosphere memristor with lateral gold electrodes [15], (c) memristor arrays based on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) [16], (d) ultrathin ferroelectric films as memristors [17,18], etc. It has been shown that the resistance of a ferroelectric tunnel junction can be tunable, history-dependent and programmable [19]. Now there is a strong interest in creating new memristive devices and to explore memristors from other materials. In this study, we present multiferroic thin film memristor with the structure Pt/BaTiO 3 /NiFe 2 O 4 /BaTiO 3 /Au. The first memristors are mainly based on electric-field resistive switching. Recent reports have explored the use of variety of external operating parameters, such as the modulation of an applied magnetic field, temperature, or illumination conditions to activate changes in the memristive switching behaviors [20]. These stimuli can expand the application range of memristors and operational conditions in dif- ferent environments. Furthermore, when HP announced the Machine, the new concept where “electrons compute, photons communicate, ions store” [21], interest for photonic switching in memristors has in- creased and lead to development of the new component named photomemristor. That means that electro-optical interaction can be very beneficial in the context of enhanced memory performances, but also other memristors applications such as neuromorphic computing, chaotic circuits, sensing applications [22], etc. Illumination is especially attractive because photon signals are easier to apply/transport over long distances than electrical signals as well as photon signal can efficiently manage the interactions between circuit devices without disruption by signal interference [23]. An efficient approach to read the logic state of a nanoscale memristive device optically by monitoring the states of low and high optical transmission was presented in [24]. Real- ization of the electroluminescence and the resistive switching Microelectronic Engineering 187–188 (2018) 139–143 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: nsamardzic@uns.ac.rs (N.M. Samardžić). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2017.10.018 0167-9317/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 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