Memristors are devices whose dynamic properties are of interest because they can mimic the operation of biological synapses. The demonstration that ferroelectric domains in tunnel junctions behave like memristors suggests new approaches for designing neuromorphic circuits. Memristors are continuously tunable resistors that emulate biological synapses1,2. Conceptualized in the 1970s, they traditionally operate by voltage-induced displacements of matter, although the details of the mechanism remain under debate3,4,5. Purely electronic memristors based on well-established physical phenomena with albeit modest resistance changes have also emerged6,7. Here we demonstrate that voltage-controlled domain configurations in ferroelectric tunnel barriers8,9,10 yield memristive behaviour with resistance variations exceeding two orders of magnitude and a 10 ns operation speed. Using models of ferroelectric-domain nucleation and growth11,12, we explain the quasi-continuous resistance variations and derive a simple analytical expression for the memristive effect. Our results suggest new opportunities for ferroelectrics as the hardware basis of future neuromorphic computational architectures.

A ferroelectric memristor