Slow-Fast Dynamics in a Chaotic System with Strongly Asymmetric Memristive Element

We investigate the effect of a memristive element on the dynamics of a chaotic system. For this purpose, the chaotic Chua's oscillator is extended by a memory element in the form of a double-barrier memristive device. The device consists of Au/NbOx/Al2O3/Al/Nb layers and exhibits strong analog-type resistive changes depending on the history of the charge flow. In the obtained system we observe strong changes in the dynamics of chaotic oscillations. The otherwise fluctuating amplitudes of Chua's system are disrupted by transient silent states. Numerical simulations and analysis of the extended model reveal that the underlying dynamics possesses slow-fast properties due to different timescales between the memory element and the base system. Furthermore, the stabilizing and destabilizing dynamic bifurcations are identified that are traversed by the system during its chaotic behavior.