Ni-DNA-based thin-film memristor development

DNA is a natural one-dimensional nanowire, but its low conductivity limits its application in nanodevices. By chelating divalent metals, such as nickel (Ni), a Ni ion containing DNA (Ni-DNA) is formed. In our previous studies indicated that Ni-DNA is a conductive nanowire which has memristor and memcapacitor properties. In this study, we have developed a flexible gold nano-thin-film (NTF) device by plasma sputtering technique that allows Ni-DNA to form a self-assembly monolayer on gold NTF via Au-thiol linkage. Furthermore, the Ni-DNA NTF devices demonstrate memristor behavior and multiple memory states can be demonstrated by applying variant external bias from 3.5V to 1.5V. This controllable multistate memory states can be used for mem-computing in the near future.