Abstract
Carbon-based electronics is a promising alternative to traditional silicon-based electronics as it could enable faster, smaller and cheaper transistors, interconnects and memory devices. However, the development of carbon-based memory devices has been hampered either by the complex fabrication methods of crystalline carbon allotropes or by poor performance. Here we present an oxygenated amorphous carbon (a-COx) produced by physical vapour deposition that has several properties in common with graphite oxide. Moreover, its simple fabrication method ensures excellent reproducibility and tuning of its properties. Memory devices based on a-COx exhibit outstanding non-volatile resistive memory performance, such as switching times on the order of 10 ns and cycling endurance in excess of 10(4) times. A detailed investigation of the pristine, SET and RESET states indicates a switching mechanism based on the electrochemical redox reaction of carbon. These results suggest that a-COx could play a key role in non-volatile memory technology and carbon-based electronics.
Highlights
Carbon-based electronics is a promising alternative to traditional silicon-based electronics as it could enable faster, smaller and cheaper transistors, interconnects and memory devices
This does not preclude their use in resistive memory applications: the switching mechanism in resistive memories generally relies on the clustering of defects across disordered materials[29,30], so there is no need to use crystalline forms of carbon
We present oxygenated amorphous carbon (a-COx) that can be deposited by a simple, wafer-scale and room-temperature physical vapour deposition (PVD) process
Summary
Carbon-based electronics is a promising alternative to traditional silicon-based electronics as it could enable faster, smaller and cheaper transistors, interconnects and memory devices. The extraordinary mechanical, optical and electrical properties of graphene[1], graphene oxide[2] and carbon nanotubes[3] have the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology, paving the way towards so-called carbon-based electronics[4] Another fascinating development in the field of nanoelectronics is that of memristive devices or resistive memory devices. Despite the large interest in resistive memories based on graphene[11,12,13], graphene oxide[14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22] and carbon nanotubes[23,24,25,26], their complex fabrication methods, which involve high process temperatures, the use of metal catalysts, ex situ synthesis or the production of toxic gases as a side-effect, hinder their large-scale development These complex methods limit their wafer-scale integration into existing complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology or plastic electronics as well as reliable control of their properties[27]. A discussion on the possible switching mechanism is presented
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