Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamic Extremal Principles During Filament Formation in ECM Memristors

Electrochemical metallization (ECM) memristors have potential applications in future neuromorphic computing hardware. The set, reset, and variable-resistance features of these devices originate in the formation and breakup of metal filaments in a solid-state electrolyte. While the performance characteristics of these devices are widely investigated, the driving principles behind the morphology of the filament formation process remain unclear. In this study, we propose an approach motivated by the extremal principles found in non-equilibrium thermodynamics and observe an entropy production and energy dissipation rate minimization during the filament-forming process in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations.