First principle study of electronic properties of 2D MXene for MXene/metal oxides memristor application

Abstract

Physical role of a novel two-dimensional (2D) MXene material, Cr2C, in determining the electrical conduction behavior of metal oxide memristor was studied here. Today one emerging application of 2D MXene materials is possessed from its ability to accelerate the formation of the conductive filaments inside the resistive oxide-based memristor device. The cause of such an improvement however remains mysterious. To address this issue, Cr2C, was introduced into the Ag/Cr2C/Pt stack to calculate its electronic structure and conductive characteristics via density functional theory. It was found that that most regions inside the Ag/Cr2C/Pt stack were occupied by electrons. The studied stack without the presence of an energy gap indicated its metal-like property. Additionally, the investigated Ag/Cr2C/Pt stack generated lower energy barrier than other conventional MXenes such as Ti3C2 and V2N. Such low energy barrier led to higher device electron diffusivity, mobility, and electrical conductivity. This undoubtedly benefited the formation of the conductive filaments inside the memristor device