switching functionality is caused by the movement or displacement of heavy particles, such as ions or atoms, over distances ranging from an elementary cell to the size of an entire device. The variety of materials capable of displaying switching leads us to believe that devices based on atom/ion motion can eventually be used in practical circuits.

The use of switching in memory and storage devices has been the main driver for the development of switches by most of the major semiconductor companies. However, if the switching phenomenon can be reliably engineered in devices of sufficiently small size, this will lead to the emergence of new hybrid logic circuits based on novel architectural concepts (Strukov and Likharev, 2007). Some of these concepts mimic the “architecture” and the well-developed connectivity of the human brain, an integral combination of memory, connectivity, and computational elements.

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