Laser modulation of the FePS₃ memristors

Ternary two-dimensional (2D) material-based memristors have garnered significant attention in the fields of machine learning, neuromorphic computing due to their low power consumption, rapid learning, and synaptic-like behavior. Although such memristors often exhibit high ON/OFF ratios and exceptional pulse response characteristics, they have also to face some challenges concerning reusability and switching cycles, which arise from the filament instability issues. Here we propose a modulation strategy to improve performance of 2D-material memristors with synaptic and flexible features. By laser-modulating few-layer FePS₃, we induced the formation of conductive filaments, realized a major improvement in performance of the FePS₃memristors, achieving an ON/OFF ratio of nearly 10⁴, low power consumption at approximately 10^-7W of single switching operation, and maintaining stability even after over 500 cycles. The performance promotion has been ascribed to enhancement of conductive filament induced by laser-modulation. Furthermore, we have identified the effectiveness of our laser modulation under strain by building the high-performance flexible FePS₃memristor. Meanwhile, we discovered a novel strain-dominant erasure method for the flexible memristors. Our work confirms that laser modulation is a viable method for enhancing the performance of 2D material-based memristive devices.