The effect of size on the resistive switching characteristics of NiO nanodots

Abstract

NiO nanodots were fabricated via a shattering process using an AFM tip, where an NiO nanodot with a diameter of approximately 90nm was broken into very small pieces. The pieces showed diverse diameters, including three diameters of approximately 10, 20, and 30nm. The NiO nanodots exhibited unipolar switching characteristics including bistable resistivity during 200 repeated switching cycles. Significantly, the magnitude of the “ON currents” was observed to depend on the formation of conducting filaments in the NiO nanodots. We suggest that the critical diameter of the RRAM NiO nanodots is approximately 30nm.