Defect‐Controlled Ti‐Doped Perovskite Memristors for High Accuracy Neuromorphic Computing

ABSTRACT Neuromorphic computing requires electronic devices capable of stable analogue switching, low energy operation, and reliable synaptic behaviour. In this study, Zinc zirconate (ZZO) and Ti‐doped ZnZrO ₃ (TZZO) perovskite thin films were developed to realise high‐performance memristors, and their switching behaviour is correlated with defect chemistry and electronic structure. Resistive switching devices with Ag/ZZO/FTO and Ag/TZZO/FTO configurations exhibit consistent bipolar switching, governed by ohmic, space‐charge‐limited conduction (SCLC), and high‐field‐assisted transport mechanisms associated with Schottky and Poole–Frenkel conduction. The switching behaviour in Ag/TZZO/FTO is primarily attributed to an oxygen‐vacancy‐mediated valence change memory (VCM) mechanism, with possible minor contributions from field‐assisted Ag‐ion migration. These devices showed strong performance, with endurance reaching 10 ⁴ cycles and retention of 10 ⁴ s. Density functional theory (DFT) studies revealed that Ti doping improves electrical conductivity via defect‐driven transport pathways. The neuromorphic computing potential of these devices was validated by integrating their long‐term potentiation and depression (LTP and LTD) behaviours into a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained on the MNIST dataset, achieving digit recognition accuracies of 94.35% for ZZO and 98.35% for TZZO. These results establish the Ti‐doped ZZO as a promising candidate for next‐generation non‐volatile memory and neuromorphic applications.