Modeling of emergent memory and voltage spiking in ionic transport through angstrom-scale slits

Confined flow effects Most memory resistor (“memristor”) systems use electrons as the charge carrier but it may also be possible to use ionic carriers, similar to the way that neurons work. Robin et al . studied an aqueous electrolyte confined into a pseudo two-dimensional gap between two graphite layers (see the Perspective by Hou and Hou). The authors observed a current–voltage relation that exhibits hysteresis, and the conductance depends on the history of the system, also known as the memresistor effect. Using simulations of their system, they can model the emission of voltage spikes characteristic of neuromorphic activity. —MSL