Feature

8 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 1531-636X/13/$31.002013IEEE SECOND QUARTER 2013

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCAS.2013.2256255
Date of publication: 22 May 2013
The First Radios Were
Made Using Memristors!
Gaurav Gandhi, Varun Aggarwal, and Leon O. Chua
A passive memristor is defined as any two-terminal
electronic device that is devoid of an internal power-
source and is capable of switching between two resis-
tance states upon application of an appropriate voltage
or current signal that can be sensed by applying a rela-
tively much smaller sensing signal [3], [2].
1
When one
plots a curve of voltage versus current applied to the
memristor, it shows pinched hysteresis loop [6]. Thus
a pinched hysteresis loop in the voltage vs. current
characteristics of the device serves as the fingerprint
for memristor [6]. Despite the simplicity of symmetry
argument that predicts the existence of memristor [2],
[5], a simple macro memristor device, such as resis-
tance wires, capacitor plates and inductor coils, does
not exist [7] (refer to Table 1). Current memristor imple-
mentations use specialized materials such as transition
1
In this paper, we are referring to memristor as defined in [2], [4], which
includes the ideal memristor as defined in Chuas 1971 paper [5] as a
subclass. Throughout the paper, the reference is to memristor and not
ideal memristor [2], [6].
In 2008, Williams et al. reported the discovery
of the fourth fundamental passive circuit ele-
ment, memristor, which exhibits electrically
controllable state-dependent resistance
[1]. We show that one of the first wireless
radio detector, called cats whisker, also
the worlds first solid-state diode, had
memristive properties. We have identi-
fied the state variable governing the
resistance state of the device and can
program it to switch between mul-
tiple stable resistance states. Our
observations and results are valid
for a larger class of devices called
coherers, which include the cats
whisker. These devices constitute
the missing canonical physical
implementations for a memristor
(ref. Fig. 1).
Abstract
JOHN FOXX & WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/KIOSHI3
I. Introduction
T
here are two general types of components used
in electronics: passive (e.g. resistors, capacitors
and inductor) and active (e.g. transistors and
integrated circuits). Passive components are incapa-
ble of power gain i.e. they cannot amplify signals while
active circuit components can amplify signals. The
three most commonly used passive components are
resistor, capacitor and inductor. A simple wire acts as
resistor, two parallel plates separated by a dielectric
work as a capacitor and a coiled metallic wire func-
tions as an inductor. No such implementation is there
for a memristor.
Memristors are a new addition to this family. It was
proposed by Leon Chua in 1971 [2] that there must be a
fourth passive circuit element and it was discovered by
HP Labs in 2008 [1].
SECOND QUARTER 2013 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 9
Gaurav Gandhi and Varun Aggarwal are with mLabs, India. Leon O. Chua is with the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and Technische Universitt
Mnchen, Germany. E-mails: gaurav@mlabs.in, varun@mlabs.in, and chua@eecs.berkeley.edu.
metal oxides, chalcogenides, perovskites, oxides with
valence defects, or a combination of an inert and an
electrochemically active electrode.
We look at devices invented in the quest to build a
radio wave detector more than 100 years back, which
ultimately culminated in the vacuum tube. Coherer,
invented by Edouard Branly [8][10] in the 19th cen-
tury, in many of its embodiments such as ball bearings,
metallic filings (also referred to as granular media) in
a tube or a point-contact, exhibits an initial high-
resistance state and coheres to a low-resistance state on
the arrival of radio waves. The device attains its original
resistance state on being tapped mechanically. These
were used as detector for wireless wave. The first elec-
trically reset-able coherer, comprising a metal-mercury
interface and named as an auto-coherer, [11][14] did
not require tapping and resets automatically in the
absence of radio waves.
Coherers and auto-coherers worked unreliably for
the purpose of radio wave detection, which actually
required a diode for rectification. Cats whisker was
the first metal-semiconductor point contact device pat-
ented by J.C. Bose and was actively used in early radio
research [12], [15]. A cats whisker detector, also called
a crystal detector, is an antique electronic component
consisting of a thin metal wire that lightly touches a
crystal of semiconducting mineral (usually Galena) to
make a crude point-contact rectifier (ref. Fig. 2). The
symbol of diode is derived from this point-contact
setup. The current flows from metal whisker to crystal
but not the other way round making it function like a
diode and hence a detector for wireless waves. Only
certain sites (also referred as hot spots) on the crystal
function as a rectifying junction and are very sensitive
to exact geometry and the pressure applied.
In the present work we have established that the crys-
tal detector in the cats whisker setup shows memristive
properties. Our observations and results are valid for a
larger class of devices (coherers) that also include the
cats whisker. These devices form a pinched hysteresis
loop in their voltage-current plane, the fingerprint of a
memristor, on the application of specific set of bipolar
periodic inputs. The device can also be programmed
in various resistance states, erased and read making
it a suitable memristive device to study. Note that for
Table 1.
Passive components.
Component Canonical Implementation Behavior
Resistor Simple wire Dissipates energy
Capacitor Parallel plates Store energy in electric field
Inductor Coiled wire Store energy in magnetic field
Memristor ? State dependent resistor
R
C L
M
Canonic Implementations
for the
Four Fundamental
Passive Elements
Figure 1. Complete set of canonical discrete implementa-
tions of the four fundamental circuit elements.
Figure 2. Philmore cats whisker in contact with a Galena
crystal.
10 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE SECOND QUARTER 2013
2
Philmore 7003 cats whisker is easily available from various antique
radio or radio hobbyists shops and can also be ordered online through
sites like eBay. On the other hand, it is easy to build it oneself using one
of the semiconducting crystals and a metallic wire.
convenience of exposition, this paper uses terms like
state, state variable, and average resistance in an
intuitive sense and they may not adhere to their defini-
tion as in literature in the strictest sense.
The discovery of memristive phenomenon in a device
as simple and pervasive as cats whisker provides
students with a simple, inexpensive and easy to use
memristor for research, experimentation and building
applications. The lack of availability of such a simple dis-
crete memristor has been an impediment in the research
being pursued by many in the field of memristor.
The existence of the memristive phenomena in the
larger class of devices, coherers, whose signature is an
imperfect metal-metal contact show the ubiquity of the
memristive phenomena. It shows that memristor phe-
nomena is not limited to specific materials assembled
at small geometries, but is present in a large class of
metals put together as a point contact [16][18]. We
believe that this constitutes the canonical macro
implementation for a memristor (ref. Fig. 1).
This paper is organized as follows: The next section
discusses about the cats whisker setup used for study-
ing the memristive properties of the device and the ter-
minology used to explain the observations. It is followed
by a section, which describes in detail the electrical
properties of the cats whisker setup and its behavior
under different electrical stimulations. Based on the
observed behavior, we postulate an electrical model
and identify the state-variable con-
trolling the resistance change. The
paper concludes with a discussion
on the observations and results.
II. Cats Whisker Detector Setup
We used a setup comprising of a
Galena crystal in contact with a
Phosphorous bronze wire, also
famously known as Philmores 7003
cats whisker setup, which was
actively used in the past
2
. It con-
sists of fixed whisker (phosphorous
bronze) to control the pressure and
contact area between the Galena
crystal and the wire, which is a crit-
ical parameter to be setup for the
device to work as a diode or mem-
ristor (refer to Fig. 2).
For our experiments, we pro-
vided the Cats whisker setup with
different rising triangular-shaped
current mode inputs (ref. Fig. 3)
and recorded the voltage across
the setup. We built a programma-
ble system where we could digitally input the amplitude
and time period properties for the input waveform, gen-
erate the input, apply it to our setup and automatically
record the output voltage waveform.
This was achieved through the setup described
in Fig. 4. The waveform specifications were fed into a
micro-controller based system, which created a digi-
tal voltage waveform having the prescribed proper-
ties. This was passed to a digital-to-analog converter
(DAC) to generate an analog voltage signal followed by
a level shifter (such that negative voltage values can be
generated). This voltage mode signal was converted to
a current mode signal using an AD844 current conveyor
chip. The AD844 chip was connected in the configura-
tion shown in Fig. 4. Finally, the current mode signal
from the chip was fed to the phosphorous bronze metal
of the Cats whisker setup with the other terminal being
grounded. The voltage across the Cats whisker setup
was captured and stored back in the micro controller.
The setup was activated by different current-mode
input signals and its transient behavior was recorded.
Here, we report the results for two representative input
waveforms. In the first, the current was varied from
1 mA up to 2.5 mA as rising triangular bursts as shown in
0.5
1
1.5
C
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(
m
A
)2.0
4
2
0
2
4
(a)
(b)
Triangular Pulses of
Varying Amplitude
Time
Time
200 ms
200 ms
C
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(
m
A
)
Figure 3. Current input used to unravel various memristive behaviors. (a) Triangular
pulse with rising amplitude used to unravel the multi-state resistive behavior of cats
whisker. (b) Bipolar input provided to demonstrate the memristive behavior.
SECOND QUARTER 2013 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 11
Fig. 3(a). In the second, repeated
bursts of fixed amplitude trian-
gular waveforms (amplitude of
3.5 mA) in the positive and nega-
tive direction were given. This is
as shown in Fig. 3(b). For all our
inputs, the time period of one
triangular waveform is 200 ms to
ensure a slowly varying signal.
We found that the devices
exhibit three distinct behav-
iors: cohering action, multi-
stable memristive behavior,
and bistable resistive random
access memory (RAM) type
behavior apart from the usual
rectifying behavior.
These results are for Galena crystal in contact with
a phosphorous bronze wire. Similar qualitative results
were observed for a wide class of crystals like carborun-
dum, iron pyrite, etc. and metals including iron filing,
aluminum, Ni, etc [18]. The memristive properties are
also observed if the semiconducting metal is replaced
by a metal, say iron. Such a metal-metal setup com-
prised the coherer.
III. Terminology
The behavior of our device is non-linear in the V-I plane.
In such case, the term resistance is only loosely defined
since the value of resistance changes at each point on
the V-I curve. To dispel any ambiguity, we define the
following terms to explain our results. We define Non-
linear DC resistance, R(I), as the resistance at a given DC
current input calculated as the ratio of the DC voltage
and DC current at that point, assuming the steady-state
voltage response is DC. As shown in Fig. 5(a), this is the
slope of the line which joins the
given point to origin [19].
Whenever we refer to an in -
crease or decrease in non-linear
DC resistance, we imply its change
as a function of the DC input cur-
rent values. This is depicted in
Fig. 5(b). Curve 2 has a lower non-
linear DC resistance than curve 1,
since the non-linear DC resistance
is either equal or less at all points
in the given current range.
In the dual case one can
also define non-linear DC conduc-
tance, G(V), as the conductance
at a given voltage input calculated
as the ratio of the DC current
and DC voltage at that point. Whenever we refer to an
increase or decrease in Non-linear conductance, we
imply its change across present values. This is depicted
in Fig. 6(b). Curve 2 has a lower non-linear DC conduc-
tance than curve 1. In this paper we will be focusing on
the Non-linear DC resistance, R(I), terminology since
our input signal is current.
We define average resistance as the mean of the Non-
linear DC resistance over a range of input currents. The
idea of average resistance is similar to what is loosely
stated in literature as the resistance of a non-linear
system. For instance, when it is stated that the resis-
tance of diode is lower for positive input and higher for
negative input, it actually refers to average resistance.
To be strictly correct, we would use the new aver-
age resistance definition to explain our results. When-
ever we provide the quantitative value of average
resistance, we shall state the range of currents it was
averaged upon.
1 K Resistor
Port for Connecting
Memristor to Be
Characterized
Pins to
Microcontroller
Level
Shifter
Voltage
to Current
Converter
DAC
Configuration Input from PC
Microcontroller
Digital to Analog Converter
Analog Output
1 K ohm
AD844
I
y z
x
Level Shifter
Digital
Output
Figure 4. Setup used to generate the input current waveforms described in Figure 3.
R1
(
I)
R
(
I)
R1
(
I)
R
(
I)
R
2
(I)
Current
V
o
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t
a
g
e
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
C
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v
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1
C
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1
C
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2
Current
(a) (b)
Figure 5. Non-linear DC resistance R(I). For a non-volatile memristor, the DC V-I
curve must be a multi-valued function of I which nevertheless must pass through the
origin. Here, we assume a hypothetical case where the DC V-I curve is double-valued
and can be modeled by 2 curves, as depicted in (b).
12 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE SECOND QUARTER 2013
IV. Experimental Results
The device can be programmed into two possible states:
firstly, touching the wire on the hot spot
3
on the crystal
leads to rectification and the other, where the device
is touched at places other than hotspots. The following
observations are more dominant when the device is set
at non-hotspots. The memristor
behavior becomes feeble (but
not non-existent) at hotspots
where rectification takes place.
This could be one reason why
the memristive properties of
cats whiskers were not discov-
ered to date.
A. Cohering Action
For any input current lead-
ing to a voltage below a spe-
cific threshold voltage, V , th the
devices exhibit a high non-linear
DC resistance.
At a current higher than I , th
corresponding to a voltage V , th the
average resistance of the device
falls (refer to P1 transition in
Fig. 8). In our experiment, Ith had
a value of 0.3 mA, whereas Vth was
around 3.2 V.
4
Once the device
takes this new state, it maintains
the said non-linear DC resistance
(Curve A1) on excitation by cur-
rent values below Ith as well.
B. Multistable
Memristive Behavior
Once in cohered state, the device
exhibits a state-dependent non-
linear DC resistance, the state
variable being the maximum cur-
rent (Imax) i.e. ( ) ([ ] ). R I f Imax t t 0 = -
Here ([ ] ) f Imax t 0- is defined as
the maximum current that the
device has experienced in the
time period 0 to t.
As the device is exposed to
pulses of subsequently larger
peak current (refer to Fig. 7 and
Fig. 8) which shows the behavior
for different time intervals, P1 to P3 and A1 to A3),
5
it
sets itself to new lower non-linear DC resistance values.
G1
(
V
)
G
(
V
)
G
2
(V)
G1
(
V
)
GGGGGGGG
2
(V) )))))))))))))))
G
(
V
)
Voltage
(a) (b)
C
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C
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t
C
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1
C
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1
C
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2
Voltage
Figure 6. Non-linear DC conductance G(V).
3
Hotspots are found by the following process. The device is either con-
nected to an oscilloscope or a radio receiver circuit. Then the point of
contact between the crystal and wire is changed till a diode-like char-
acteristics is observed. The point(s) on the crystal where rectification
is observed are hotspots. Finding hotspots is generally a time consum-
ing task for non-experts [15].
A3
Center Axis
P3
P2
P1
A2
A1
C
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(
m
A
)
0
0
1
2
3
V
o
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t
a
g
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(
V
)
0
1
2
3
4
500
These Two Waveforms Are Mirror Symmetric About Center Axis
These Two Waveforms Are Not Symmetric About the Center Axis
Center
Axis
1000
Time (ms)
(a)
Time (ms)
(b)
1500 2000
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Figure 7. Device input current and output voltage. (a) Input current versus time and (b)
voltage across memristor versus time. It is observed that the maximum voltage across
the device does not cross a threshold voltage, . Vth Here A1, A2, A3 and P1, P2 and P3
denotes the time interval cited in the text. It is color coded to demonstrate the multistable
memristive behavior of the device.
4
These values may change according to the metal, the contact, pres-
sure, etc.
5
Note that the non-linear DC resistance changes appreciably only when
the maximum current through the device has changed. This can be
seen through color correspondence, where each color shows a new
stable non-linear DC resistance-state and the transitions are marked by
the first pulse of higher amplitude: P1, P2 and P3 being the time interval
where these pulses are applied. In case the maximum current passed
through the device does not change, the non-linear DC resistance
feebly oscillates around the same value, as seen in the time-interval
of A1, A2 and A3. Furthermore, we have observed that the non-linear
DC resistance remains fixed even when the amplitude of the pulse is
decreased, since the maximum current has not changed.
SECOND QUARTER 2013 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 13
The resistance curve remains non-linear, nonetheless.
The maximum voltage across the device remains prac-
tically constant at V . th This behavior is akin to that of
a diode, but unlike a diode the device remembers its
changed resistance when taken to lower voltage levels.
For input current pulses of same or lower amplitude
than the maximum current experienced, the device
shows hysteresis loops around the already-achieved
resistance value, with small oscillations.
The average resistance values and the non-linear
DC resistance (at I = 0.5 mA) for curves A1, A2 and A3
are presented in Table 2. The average resistance values
have been averaged over a current range of I = 0.1 mA
to 0.5 mA. One clearly observes here that both these
values decrease with changing . Imax We stress that our
terminology of average resistance is not a new con-
cept or phenomenon. It is introduced for the conve-
nience of discussion.
C. Bistable Resistive RAM/Memristive Mode
When activated by any bipolar current input (i.e. cur-
rent takes both positive and negative values in each
cycle), the device gets programmed into one state in
the positive cycle, and a different state in the nega-
tive cycle (refer to Fig. 9)
6
. It keeps oscillating between
these two stable states, forming the famous eight-
shaped pinched hysteresis loop in its V-I character-
istics (refer to Fig. 10)
7
. Figure 11(a)(d) shows the
complete cyclic behavior of pinched hysteresis loop.
It has been established that If it is pinched, it is mem-
ristor. Pinched hysteresis loop is the fingerprint of a
memristor [20], [3].
The average resistance values and the non-linear DC
resistance (at current magnitude of 0.5 mA) for curves
A1...A6 are presented in Table 3. These values have been
averaged over a current magnitude range of I = 0.1 mA
to 3.5 mA.
Our observations further imply that the average
resistance of the device is a function of the magnitude
of Imax for either directions of current, but with a quanti-
tatively different state-map. This can be mathematically
stated as: Let
(magnitude([ ] )) ), R f I I max p t 1 0 1 = = + - (1)
(magnitude([ ] )) ), R f I I max n t 1 0 1 = = - - (2)
, R R p n 1 1 & ! (3)
where Rp1 is the average resistance of the device when
activated by a maximum current of I1 in positive direc-
tion, and Rn1 is the average resistance when activated
by a maximum current of I1 in the negative direction.
(magnitude([ ] )) f Imax t 0 + - implies the maximum current
the device has experienced between time = 0 and
time = t.
6
Whereas triangle current pulse is symmetrical with respect to center
axis shown in Fig. 9, voltage response during that time interval is not
symmetrical. This causes hysteresis loop. We refer to different stable
V-I characteristics as different states of the device.
7
It is evident by looking at regions depicted by A0 to A6 that the change
in resistance happens at the first pulse of the transition. One may also
note that these observations show recovery of resistance to a higher
non-linear DC resistance: A4 resistance is higher than A5 resistance.
P3
P2
P1
A2
A1
V
th
I
th
A3
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(
m
A
)
Voltage (V)
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Figure 8. Device behavior as a state-dependent resistance:
current-voltage plot. It is observed that the maximum voltage
across the device does not cross a threshold voltage, . Vth
Table 2.
Average resistance and nonlinear DC resistance for
various regions in multistable memristive behavior of
cats whisker.
Region
Average
Resistance R
Nonlinear DC Resistance
(I = 0.5 mA)
A1 9.2 K 6 K
A2 7.3 K 4.6 K
A3 6.3 K 4.2 K
Table 3.
Average resistance and nonlinear DC resistance for
various regions in Bistable memristive behavior of
cats whisker.
Region
Average
Resistance R
Nonlinear DC Resistance
(| | . ) I 0 5 mA =
A0 3.2 K 6 K
A1 3.6 K 4.6 K
A2 1.7 K 2.6 K
A3 3.0 K 5.2 K
A4 3.4 K 6.0 K
A5 2.8 K 4.6 K
A6 1.6 K 2.3 K
14 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE SECOND QUARTER 2013
A detailed circuit theoretic model for the non-
linear DC resistance for the said memristor can also
be achieved using the scheme presented recently by
Chua [2]. Such a model is beyond
the scope of the present discus-
sion and will be treated in a sepa-
rate publication.
V. Discussion
We show that devices as
simple as metal-metal or metal-
semiconductor point-contact, as
in the famously known setup of
coherer or cats whisker, shows
memristive properties. The famous
pinched hysteresis curve between
the voltage-current characteristics,
which is the fingerprint of a
memristor, is visible in the cur-
rent set of experiments. We have
demonstrated that by using vari-
ous stimuli with different maxi-
mum amplitudes on either side, the
device can be programmed to func-
tion in multiple stable resistance-
states. When used as a resistive
memory, the memory can be read
in the memory state by providing
an excitation of small amplitude
(refer to Section IV (a)). This fulfills
the conditions of Chuas definition
of memristor [3], and qualifies the
century-old cats whisker (more
generally coherer) as a canonical
implementation of a memristor.
Cats whisker intrigued the science
of that era as much as memristor is
exciting the scientists of the pres-
ent day [21].
There are certain differences
between the behavior of our
memristor and other present
day memristors. Unlike Williams
et al. memristor [1], they do not
behave as a charge-flux based
memristor. Irrespective of the
increase or decrease of flux,
their resistance does not change
till the maximum current or
current polarity changes. Of vari-
ous memristors currently being
studied, our devices, especially
coherers, have similarities in
behavior [16], [17] and construction [22]. However,
none of these recent memristors have reported depen-
dence on . Imax
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(
m
A
)
4
2
Symmetric About the Center
Axis
0
A0 A1
0 500
Center Axis
Center Axis
Center Axis
Not Symmetric
Not Symmetric
Not Symmetric
Time (ms)
Time (ms)
(b)
(a)
1000 1500 2000 2500
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0
A2 A3
A4 A5
A6
2
4
V
o
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t
a
g
e

(
V
)
4
2
0
2
4
Figure 9. Bistable memristive behavior. (a) Input current versus time, (b) voltage
across device versus time.
3
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(
m
A
)
A3
(Blue)
A2
(Cyan)
A6
(Magenta)
Voltage (V)
A0
(Blue)
A4
(Green)
A5
(Black)
A1
(Red)
2
1
0 1 2 3 1 2 3
1
2
3
Figure 10. Bistable memristive behavior Input current versus voltage across device.
One clearly observes pinched hysteresis loop for cats whisker.
SECOND QUARTER 2013 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 15
Also, the point worth noting is
that the observations are more
dominant when the device is config-
ured in the non-rectification mode.
The memristor behavior becomes
feeble (but not always non-existent)
at hotspots where rectification
takes place. As the main application
of cats whisker has been to rectify
the signal and it shows feeble
memristive behavior at that junc-
tion, this could be one reason why
the memristive properties of Cats
whiskers were not discovered to
date. Even though the memristor
has only a feeble effect in optimal
radio operation, one must note that
the composite cat whisker-crystal
2-terminal device is a memristor
because its internal physical mecha-
nism, though not well-understood,
is certainly state- dependent, and
hence is memristive [3].
By demonstrating the memris-
tive properties of cats whisker the
present work not only fills an impor-
tant gap in the study of switching
4
2
0
0 5 5
0 5 0 5 5
0 5 5
A2
A3
A2
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
A1 A1
A1 A1
A3
A3
A2
A2
A5
A4 A4
A0 A0
A0 A0
Voltage (V) Voltage (V)
Voltage (V) Voltage (V)
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(
m
A
)
2
4
4
2
0
C
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(
m
A
)
2
4
5
4
2
0
C
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r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)
2
4
4
2
0
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)
2
4
Figure 11. Bistable memristive behavior pinched hysteresis loop. (a) The plot
between voltage and current when during A0-A2 time interval. (b) The plot
between voltage and current when during A0-A3 time interval. Here A0, A1 and
A2 in (a) and (b) are identical. It can be easily seen that pinched hysteresis loop is
being formed. (c) Pinched hysteresis loop during A0-A4 time interval. (d) Pinched
hysteresis loop during A0-A5 time interval. Note that (c) and (d) are identical since
A5 and A1 are identical. These results clearly establish the memristive behavior
of cats whisker.
APPENDIX
Detailed Method to Find Average Resistance
Refer to Figure S1 (a reproduction of Figure 10). Here we
will describe how to calculate the average resistance for
the given curve during the time interval A1 for current
range I1 (0.1 mA) to In (3.5 mA).
For input current , I1 at point , P1 the voltage is . V1 Here,
the non-linear DC resistance is r1 ( / ) V I 1 1 the inverse of the
slope of the line segment joining P1 to origin. Similarly,
at current In, the non-linear DC resistance is . rn For any
current between I1 and , In the non-linear DC resistance is
similarly defined, as shown in the figure.
To calculate the average resistance, the non-linear DC
resistance is measured at regular time interval starting
from point P1 to . Pn The average of these values is the
average resistance. Mathematically this is equivalent
to: / R R n i
i
i n
1
avg =
=
=
/ where ( ) / ( ), R V t t I t t i i i i i = = = here
t t i p1 = + time interval
*
(i - 1).
4
3
2
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)
Voltage (V)
1
1 2 V
1
R4
R3
R2
R1
P1
P2
P3
A1
A0
l
n
l
3
l
2
l
1
V
2
V
3
V
n
Figure S1. Calculating average resistance and nonlinear
DC resistance. We stress here that we introduce the names
average resistance and states merely to improve the
clarity of our exposition. They are not new technical names
or concepts.
16 IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE SECOND QUARTER 2013
devices, but also brings them into the realm of immedi-
ate practical use and implementation. Understanding
the physical mechanism of the memristive behavior in
this new class of device serves as an interesting case
study for scientists.
VI. Acknowledgment
This paper is supported in part by AFOSR grant no.
FA9550-10-1-0290 and mLabs.
Gaurav Gandhi completed his Ph.D.
from Pazmany Peter Catholic University,
Budapest, in 2008 where he has worked
on nonlinear circuits. He also holds a
Bachelor in Engineering in electron-
ics and communications from Netaji
Subhas Institute of Technology. His cur-
rent research interests include memristors, non-volatile
memory and non-linear circuit theory. He has an exten-
sive experience working with STMicroelectronics and
Cadence Design system and holds several patents. He
founded a startup, mLabs to actively pursue research
in emerging technologies, including memristor. He also
has an active interest in teaching science and technol-
ogy to undergraduate students.
Varun Aggarwal graduated with a
Masters in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science from Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology in 2007.
His research interests include design-
ing circuits using artificial intelligence
techniques, non-linear circuit theory,
optimization and machine learning. He has an active
interest in history of science and engineering. He won
the Humies Award at GECCO 2006 and the Bruce Kelley
OTB award for his article in Ancient Wireless Academy
Journal. Currently, he runs a company called Aspiring
Minds in India, which is building a GRE/SAT for jobs
in India.
Leon O. Chua received the M.S. degree
from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, in 1961 and
the Ph.D. degree from the Univer-
sity of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
in electrical engineering, in 1964. He
has been a Professor at the Univer-
sity of California Berkeley since 1971. In 2011, he was
appointed a Distinguished Professor at the Technical
University of Mnich. He was awarded seven patents
and 14 honorary doctorates. When not immersed in sci-
ence, he relaxes by searching for Wagners leitmotifs,
musing over Kandinskys chaos, and contemplating
Wittgensteins inner thoughts. Prof. Chua received
many awards including the first recipient of the
Gustav Kirchhoff Award, and the Guggenheim Fellow
award. He was elected a foreign member of the Aca-
demia Europaea and of the Hungarian Academy of the
Sciences. He was elected Confrerie des Chevaliers du
Tastevin in 2000.
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