On May 25^th, Nanoscale published Professor Miao Xiangshui’s team’s research on nonvolatile memristor computing technology as the inside cover. The research paper, named Nonvolatile reconfigurable sequential logic in a HfO₂ resistive random access memory array, concerned on a new strategy of realizing reconfigurable sequential logic in a memristor array. The research is completed in cooperation by Professor Miao’s team of HUST and Professor Ting-chang Chang’ team in National Sun Yat-Sen University,Taiwan. PH.D candidate Zhou Yaxiong and lecturer Li Yi are joint first authors while Professor Miao and Professor Chang (Honorary Visiting Professor in HUST) are co-corresponding authors.

 Memristor is the fourth basic circuit components besides resistor, capacitor, and inductor. Due to its high speed, low-power consumption, high integration, fusion of information storage and computing functions, it is considered as the most promising fundamental device  to realize the integration of memory and logical computing in Post-Moore’s law era. Its development will promote the general reform of logical operation theory and computing architecture, and overthrow the traditional von Neumann architecture from the basis. However, research on the physical principal and efficient algorithm of memristor-based logicis insufficient yet. Professor Miao’s team explore several critical aspects including logical iteration, state transition and cascade problem in memristor array, and provide feasible schemes of parallel computing . Utilizing the most common single bipolar device and complementary structure in a crossbar array, the research successfully implemented  basic Boolean logics and proposed an efficient solution of an full-adder. Comparing with traditional transistor-based reconfigurable logic circuits, there is no necessity to change hardware connection to reprogram memristor logic, whereas the control signals determine the executing functions. The work show great potential to be one candidate strategy of future high-performance parallel computing.

 In recent years, Professor Miao and his information storage materials and devices team made systematic research on effective fusion of storage and computing. They make achievements in new principle non-volatile logic computing on the basis of new physical mechanisms, such as phase transition of chalcogenide materials, magnetoelectric effect, and metallic filamentary evolution, etc. They proposed a universal logic algorithm based on four mathematical variables and acquired experimental verification in bipolar, complementary, and 1T1R memristors. Their solutions show the best computational complexity so far, and can be applied in the high-density integration method in industry. The original results have been published on well-known international journals, such as ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (8, 34559–34567, 2016)、IEEE Electron Device Letters (38, 1-4, 2017)、Applied Physics Letters (109, 023506, 2016; 106, 233502, 2015)、Journal of Applied Physics (114, 234503, 2013). Also, they wrote the first Chinese book on memristor, Introduction to Memristor,which is recently published by Beijing Science Press.