Electron and hole bipolar injection in magnesium oxide films

Abstract

It is assumed that the reliability and functionality of nonvolatile memory elements based on MgO are determined by the charge transport in MgO. In the present study, the type of MgO conductivity is established using experiments on the injection of minority charge-carriers in the n(p)-Si/MgO/Mg structures. It is shown that electrons and holes contribute to the MgO conductivity, causing bipolar charge transport. Using ab initio simulations, it was found that native point defects in MgO can provide both electron and hole conductivity.