Resistance Switching in Electrodeposited Magnetite Superlattices

Abstract

Defect-chemistry magnetite superlattices and compositional superlattices in the magnetite/zinc ferrite system are electrodeposited as epitaxial films onto single-crystal Au(111). The defect-chemistry superlattices have alternating nanolayers with different Fe(III)/Fe(II) ratios, whereas the compositional superlattices have alternating nanolayers with different Zn/Fe ratios. The electrochemical/chemical (EC) nature of the electrodeposition reaction is exploited to deposit the superlattices by pulsing the applied potential during deposition. The defect-chemistry superlattices show low-to-high and high-to-low resistance switching that may be applicable to the fabrication of resistive random access memory (RRAM).