Coexistance of volatile and non-volatile memristive effects in phase-separated La$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$-based devices

Abstract

In this work, we have investigated the coexistance of volatile and non-volatile memristive effects in epitaxial phase-separated La$_{\text{0.5}}$Ca$_{\text{0.5}}$MnO$_{3}$ thin films. At low temperatures (50 K), we observed volatile resistive changes arising from self-heating effects in the vicinity of a metal-to-insulator transition. At higher temperatures (140 K and 200 K) we measured a combination of volatile and non-volatile effects arising from the synergy between self-heating effects and ferromagnetic-metallic phase growth induced by an external electrical field. The results reported here add phase separated manganites to the list of materials which can electrically mimic, on the same device, the behavior of both neurons and synapses, a feature that might be useful for the development of neuromorphic computing hardware