Memresistors and non-memristive zero-crossing hysteresis curves

Abstract

It has been erroneously asserted by the circuit theorist Leon Chua that all zero-crossing pinched hysteresis curves define memristors. This claim has been used by Stan Williams of HPLabs to assert that all forms of RRAM and phase change memory are memristors. This paper demonstrates several examples of dynamic systems which fall outside of the constraints of memristive systems and yet also produce the same type of zero-crossing hysteresis curves claimed as a fingerprint for a memristor. This establishes that zero-crossing hysteresis serves as insufficient evidence for a memristor. Keywords- nonlinear dynamic systems, memresistor, phase change memory, RRAM, ReRAM