Pulse Percolation Conduction and Multi-Valued Memory

We develop a theory of pulse conduction in percolation type materials such as noncrystalline semiconductors and nano-metal compounds. For short voltage pulses, the corresponding electric currents are inversely proportional to the pulse length and exhibit significant nonohmicity due to strong local fields in resistive regions of the percolation bonds. These fields can trigger local switching events incrementally changing bond resistances in response to pulse trains. Our prediction opens a venue to a class of multi-valued nonvolatile memories implementable with a variety of materials.