Mott–vanadium dioxide-based memristors as artificial neurons for brain-inspired computing: a view on current advances

VO₂ stands out as a unique material manifesting intrinsically coupled electronic and phase transitions. The novel electric field-activated phase transition behaviours, along with the high-resistance change rate, ultrarapid response, and low-power consumption in VO₂ memristors, provide a nonlinear dynamical response to input signals, as recommended to design neuromorphic circuit components. The present review focuses on the recent advancements in VO₂ memristor devices and the design of these devices into neuromorphic circuitry towards emulating the synaptic function, which facilitates a variety of applications in sensing, oscillators for spike coding, mechanoreceptors, and anthropomorphic neurorobotics, etc. A detailed picture is presented starting from the deposition of VO₂ films to the memristor circuits employing VO₂-based devices, which contribute to the development of hardware neural network systems with brain-inspired algorithms, enabling the application of neuromorphic computing.