Ternary Conductance Switching Realized by a Pillar[5]arene-Functionalized Two-Dimensional Imine Polymer Film

Graphical Abstract

Improving your memory: Combining the intrinsic sub-nanometer pore of pillar[5]arene with the nanometer pore structure of two-dimensional polymers provides a multichannel for Ag⁺ migration so that a ternary-state memristor based on the conductive filament mechanism could be designed. The obtained Ag/2DP_TPAZ+TAPB/ITO devices show excellent ternary memory performance, including low threshold voltage, steady retention time, clearly distinguishable resistance states, high ON/OFF ratio, considerable ternary yield, and good thermal stability and flexibility.

Abstract

Nowadays, most manufacturing memory devices are based on materials with electrical bistability (i. e., “0” and “1”) in response to an applied electric field. Memory devices with multilevel states are highly desired so as to produce high-density and efficient memory devices. Herein, we report the first multichannel strategy to realize a ternary-state memristor. We make use of the intrinsic sub-nanometer channel of pillar[5]arene and nanometer channel of a two-dimensional imine polymer to construct an active layer with multilevel channels for ternary memory devices. Low threshold voltage, long retention time, clearly distinguishable resistance states, high ON/OFF ratio (OFF/ON1/ON2=1 : 10 : 10³), and high ternary yield (75 %) were obtained. In addition, the flexible memory device based on 2DP_TPAZ+TAPB can maintain its stable ternary memory performance after being bent 500 times. The device also exhibits excellent thermal stability and can tolerate a temperature as high as 300 °C. It is envisioned that the results of this work will open up possibilities for multistate, flexible resistive memories with good thermal stability and low energy consumption, and broaden the application of pillar[n]arene.