Synaptic Response of Fluidic Nanopores: The Connection of Potentiation with Hysteresis

Iontronic fluidic ionic/electronic components are emerging as promising elements for artificial brain‐like computation systems. Nanopore ionic rectifiers can be operated as a synapse element, exhibiting conductance modulation in response to a train of voltage impulses, thus producing programmable resistive states. We propose a model that replicates hysteresis, rectification, and time domain response properties, based on conductance modulation between two conducting modes and a relaxation time of the state variable. We show that the kinetic effects observed in hysteresis loops govern the potentiation phenomena related to conductivity modulation. To illustrate the efficacy of the model, we apply it to replicate rectification, hysteresis and conductance modulation of two different experimental systems: a polymer membrane with conical pores, and a blind‐hole nanoporous anodic alumina membrane with a barrier oxide layer. We show that the time transient analysis of the model develops the observed potentiation and depression phenomena of the synaptic properties. The performance of fluidic networks for brain‐like computation applications depends on short term memory properties of the rectifying elements. We show the connection of synaptical property of nanofluidic pores to the hysteresis behaviour. Potentiation and depression are connected to intrinsic inductive and capacitive behaviours caused by the impeded ion conduction mechanism.