Dominant Current Conduction Mechanism Research Articles

Microstructural and Current-voltage Characteristics in Mo/HfO2/n‑Si Based Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) Diode using Different Methods for Optoelectronic Device Applications

This paper investigates the effect of hafnium dioxide (HfO2) thin film as interlayer between the Mo and n-Si semiconductor on the electrical characteristics of the Mo/n-Si Schottky diode (SD). The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed that HfO2 films were formed on the n-Si semiconductors. The image from SEM and AFM displays that the deposited HfO2 thin film had a uniform appearance good smoothness of the surface. The smooth surfaces of the insulating layer strongly influence the electrical properties of the diode. The electrical properties of the Mo/HfO2/n-Si metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) diode were obtained via current-voltage (I-V) measurements in the voltage range from −3 V to +3 V at room temperature. A better rectifying ability and a reduced reverse leakage current were demonstrated by the MIS diode. The MIS dide's barrier height (Bh) and ideality factor value were calculated to be 0.85 eV and 1.21, respectively. The MIS diode was able to achieve a higher b, which allowed the HfO2 interlayer to change BH. The calculated BH values from the I-V, Hernandez, Cheung, and Norde approaches were comparable to one another, demonstrating their validity and consistency. The MIS diode's forward bias log (I) - log (V) curve demonstrated that it was ohmic in low-voltage regimes and that conduction was space-charge-limited in high-voltage regimes. However, for the MIS diode, the Poole-Frenkel and Schottky emissions are the dominant current conduction mechanisms in the lower and higher bias regions. These outcomes indicate that the HfO2 film can be chosen as dielectric materials in the construction of MIS devices.

Effect of Annealing on Resistive Switching Properties of Glancing Angle Deposition‐Assisted WO3 Thin Films

Herein, the impact of postdeposition annealing on resistive switching behavior of radio frequency magnetron sputtered WO3 thin films is reported. Films are deposited under glancing angle deposition (GLAD) configuration of sputtering at varying GLAD angle from 65° to 80°. Structure transition from monoclinic to orthorhombic phase in deposited WO3 films is perceived after ex situ annealing at temperature of 400 °C. Resistive switching properties show shift from bipolar to unipolar switching on postdeposition annealing. WO3 films show unipolar switching behavior after ex situ annealing for all prepared samples. The value of resistance in high resistance state is lowered after ex situ heating treatment and interestingly switching voltage also reduces to 3 V from 7 V after annealing treatment. The ratio of high to low resistance state for annealed WO3 film fabricated at 70° GLAD angle is achieved to be maximum (≈219). A detailed charge transport mechanism shows that ohmic behavior is dominant current conduction mechanism at lower applied voltage, while space charge limited current and Child's law are dominant at higher applied voltages. Obtained results encourage utilization of prepared WO3 thin films toward a wide variety of applications in optoelectronics, microelectronics, and environmental engineering along with advanced electronics such as resistive memory devices.

Electrical and optical properties of p-Si based structures with lead oxide interfaces

Lead oxide thin film was performed by evaporation technique on the p-Si type substrate. The studied film was characterized using the UV–VIS spectroscopy method. The reflectance and transmittance measurements conducted at the normal incident of light between 300 and 1000 nm were analyzed to determine the optical dispersion of the film. It was estimated that the film' optical transmittance was 77% in the visible range The obtained absorption coefficient greater than 104 cm−1 showed that the electron transition was direct. The optical band gap energy value of the film was computed as 3.22 eV. Also, the electrical features of Al/PbO/p-Si diode were examined by observing its current–voltage (I-V) behavior at room temperature. Zero-bias barrier height (Φb0), ideality factor (n), series resistance (Rs) were obtained using the conventional Norde, I-V and Cheung methods. Also, the diode’s dominant current conduction mechanisms were examined using the forward bias I-V data.

Fabrication and characterization of nichrome metal based Schottky diode on silicon

Modern electronic devices are inconvincible without implementation of metal–semiconductor (M−S) junctions. Those junctions, either in Schottky or in Ohmic form, have been largely utilized in various energy, microelectronic mechanical systems (MEMS), and microelectronic devices. Present work demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of nichrome metal based Schottky diode on silicon. Nichrome metal has non-corrosive and antioxidant nature, which is vital for devices performing in hazardous environments. Under a vacuum of ∼ 10−6 torr, Nichrome metal (80% Nickle + 20% chromium) was deposited on an n-Si wafer with the e-beam evaporation technique. A shadow mask was used to delineate Schottky contact of diameter 0.5 mm. The manufactured device’s current–voltage characteristics were measured on room temperature and dominant current conduction mechanism, barrier height, ideality factor, were also identified. The non-ideality present in the device has been discussed in terms of defects at the interface.

Photo-electrical Characterization of New CuAlNi/n-Si/Al Schottky Photodiode Fabricated by Coating Thin-Film Smart Material

Micro/nano scale thin-film shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been used in many different miniaturized systems. Using them as thin-film metal components in fabrication of Schottky photodiodes has started a few years ago. In this work, a new SMA-photodiode device with CuAlNi/n-Si/Al structure was produced by coating nano-thick CuAlNi SMA film onto n-Si wafer substrate via thermal evaporation. The photoelectrical I-V, C-V and I-t photodiode signalization tests were performed under dark and varied artifical light power intensities in room conditions. It was observed that the new device exhibited photoconductive, photovoltaic and capacitive behaviors. By using conventional I-V method, the diode parameters such as electrical ideality factor (n), Schottky barrier height (ϕb) and rectification ratio (RR) of the produced photodevice for the condition of dark environment were computed as 12.5, 0.599 eV and 1266, respectively. As good figure of merits, the photodiode’s performance parameters of responsivity (Rph), photosensivity (%PS) and spesific detectivity (D*) maxima values determined for at -5 V reverse voltage bias and under 100 mW/cm2 of light power intensity condition are as 0.030 A/W (or 30 mA/W), 18693 and 1.33×1010 Jones, respectively. The current conduction mechanism analysis revealed that the space charge limited conduction (SCLC) mechanism is the dominant current conduction mechanism. By the drawn reverse squared C-2-V plots, the values of diffusion potential (Vd), donor concentration (ND), Fermi level (EF) and also barrier height (ϕb) were determined for the SMA-photodiode. The results indicated that the new SMA-photodiode device can be useful in optoelectronic communication systems and photosensing applications.

Evidence of thermionic emission in forward biased β-Ga2O3 Schottky diodes at Boltzmann doping limit

A near-ideal and homogeneous β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode with Co contact for a doping level of ∼4.2 × 1017 cm−3 in the drift layer where the Boltzmann approximation is valid is reported. Unlike Si or GaN, thermionic emission is shown to be the dominant current conduction mechanism in the β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode at this doping level. A wide depletion region appended with a large built-in potential is observed to limit the thermionic field emission current, which is otherwise evident in narrower bandgap semiconductor (such as Si or GaN) Schottky diodes having a similar carrier concentration in the drift region. The results shown in this study can be used to identify the theoretical limits of drift layer doping beyond which the ideality factor and reverse leakage current should start deteriorating in ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor based Schottky diodes.

Temperature dependence of ferroelectric property and leakage mechanism in Mn-doped Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 films

High-quality ferroelectric films of Mn-doped Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 (PMZT) were prepared using the sol-gel method, and the temperature dependence of ferroelectric, dielectric, and leakage current properties (J–E) were explored in detail using the top electrode/ferroelectric films/bottom electrode capacitor heterostructure. The enhancement of polarization and dielectric properties by element doping is clearly observed by 3% Mn-doping. Such enhancement is beneficial for the application of these films in ferroelectric random-access memory. In addition, the analysis of leakage current reveals symmetric behavior with 3% Mn-doping and the leakage current density gradually increases with increasing temperature, which may be due to the movement of domain wall and oxygen vacancy. The dominant leakage current conduction mechanism is bulk-limited ohmic or interface-limited Schottky emission conduction within a wide temperature range. The results might be meaningful for further work on ferroelectric electrical devices with improved ferroelectric and dielectric properties.

Electrical and carrier transport properties of Ti/α-amylase/p-InP MPS junction with a α-amylase polymer interlayer

This paper demonstrates the electrical and current transport properties of prepared Ti/α-amylase/p-InP metal/polymer/semiconductor (MPS) junction by current–voltage (I–V) approach. The microstructure of the fabricated MPS junction is confirmed by transmission electron microcopy (TEM) measurement. The MPS junction exhibited a good rectification nature over the Ti/p-InP metal/semiconductor (MS) junction. The derived barrier height (BH) of MPS junction (0.78 eV) is higher than the MS junction (0.70 eV), that indicates the BH is influenced by the polymer layer. The BH is extracted by the I–V, Z(V)–Vd plot, Cheung’s function, α(V)–V plot, Norde method and Ψs–V plot and found the values are comparable with one another, which indicates their steadiness and validity. The estimated interface state density (NSS) of the MPS junction is less than the MS junction, suggesting that the α-amylase layer decreased the NSS value. The forward log (I)–log (V) plot of the MS and MPS junctions reveals the ohmic nature at lower-bias region and space-charge-limited conduction at higher-bias region. Results reveal that the reverse leakage current conduction mechanism of the MS and MPS junctions is governed by Poole–Frenkel emission in lower-bias region, whereas, at higher bias region, Schottky emission is dominant current conduction mechanism. These exploration results establish that the α-amylase polymer layer is potential for use in organic–inorganic devices.

A simplified method to determine carrier transport mechanisms of metal-oxide resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices

The current carrier transport mechanism in non-linear resistance states of the current–voltage (I–V) curves of the resistance changing or resistive switching (RS) based random access memory (RRAM) devices would help to understand the physics behind the resistive switching phenomena. The non-linear portion of the I–V curves are most commonly categorized by three different types of conduction mechanisms, the space charge limit current (SCLC), the Schottky emission (SE) and the Poole-Frenkel (P-F) effect respectively. In this study, the current–voltage curves of the RS devices limited to the non-linear region were plotted on a log–log scale with the purpose of distinguishing the dominant current conduction mechanisms. Each of the I–V curves narrowed to the non-linear region were re-plotted for SCLC at the scale of I vs. V2, for SE at the scale of ln I vs. √V and for P-F at the scale of ln I/V vs. √V. The linear fitting lines were plotted and calculated for each one using linear fitting techniques. The slopes of the fitting lines were found respect to the scales using linear fitting equations. The conduction mechanisms of the devices were determined numerically using the degree of linearity of the slopes. Finally, the offered method was applied to TiO2 based resistive switching device.

Electrical characterization of silicon nitride interlayer-based MIS diode

In this study, silicon nitride (Si3N4) thin film on p-type GaAs wafer was deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. The surface morphology of Si3N4/GaAs structure was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The electrical characteristics of the fabricated Au/Si3N4/p-GaAs metal–insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diode were investigated by using current–voltage (I–V) measurements at room temperature. The electronic parameters such as ideality factor (n) and barrier height (Φbo) of the MIS diode were derived using thermionic emission (TE). The Φbo was also extracted from Norde method. The barrier height values obtained from both TE and Norde were found to be in harmony with each other. The interface state density (Nss) and series resistance (Rs) parameters of the MIS diode were determined from the measured I–V data. In addition, the dominant current conduction mechanisms of the MIS diode were also investigated by forward bias ln(IF) − ln(VF) and reverse bias ln(IR) − VR0.5 plot. At high forward bias, the current conduction was associated with the space charge limited current (SCLC). At reverse bias region, the current conduction was associated with the Schottky emission (SE).

Structural, Chemical and Electrical Properties of Au/La2O3/n-GaN MIS Junction with a High-k Lanthanum Oxide Insulating Layer

This paper demonstrates the role of high-k La2O3 on the electrical performance of the Au/n-GaN Schottky junction (SJ) as an insulating layer between the Au and n-GaN films. First, the La2O3 is deposited on a n-type GaN surface by e-beam technique and analysed for its structural and chemical properties with x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) approaches. XRD and XPS results confirmed the growth of La2O3 on the n-GaN surface. Then, the Au/La2O3/n-GaN metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) junction is fabricated and analysed for its electrical properties and compared with the SJ electrical results. The MIS junction exhibits a good rectifying nature with a low leakage current compared to the SJ. Experimental findings reveal a higher barrier height obtained for the MIS junction than the SJ, suggesting that the barrier height is altered by the La2O3 insulating layer. Also, the barrier heights are estimated by Cheung’s, Norde functions and ΨS–V plot, and the values are nearly matched with each other, indicating the techniques used here are valid. The extracted interface state density (NSS) of MIS junction is lower than the SJ, implying the La2O3 insulating layer plays a vital role in the decreased NSS. Experimental findings confirmed that the Schottky emission governs the reverse current in SJ. However, for the MIS junction, the Poole–Frenkel and Schottky emissions are the dominant current conduction mechanisms in the lower and higher bias regions.

Metal–Insulator–Metal Diodes: A Potential High Frequency Rectifier for Rectenna Application

Metal–insulator–metal (MIM) diodes are among the most promising candidates for applications in the high frequency regime. Owing to the tunneling dominant current conduction mechanism, they facilitate femtosecond fast switching time, which has drawn great research attention for many potential high-speed applications and especially as a rectifier in rectenna based energy harvesting. Since its advent in the early 1960s, a lot of development has occurred in various aspects of design, fabrication and characterization of MIM diodes for rectenna applications. In this work, a detailed study on MIM diodes is conducted emphasizing the advancements in design and fabrication of MIM diodes and future challenges from the point of view of their application in rectennas. In addition, the fabrication and characterization of a graphene (Gr) based Al/AlOx/Gr MIM diode are also presented herein, exhibiting highly asymmetric current–voltage characteristics with large current density and a good degree of nonlinearity. An asymmetricity exceeding 2500 and the corresponding current density up to ∼ 1 A/cm2 were obtained at a voltage bias of 1 V. The peak nonlinearity was ∼ 3.8, whereas the zero bias resistance was as low as ∼ 600 Ω. These performance metrics are highly desirable for rectification operation and hence the as-fabricated Al/AlOx/Gr MIM diode holds great promise for its potential use as a rectifying element in rectennas.

Gate leakage mechanisms in normally off p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

In this letter, gate leakage mechanisms in different gate contact normally off p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been studied by the temperature-dependent current-voltage (IG-VG) measurement. It is found that two-dimensional variable range hopping is responsible for gate leakage current at the reverse gate bias and low forward gate bias in both high-leakage and low-leakage Schottky gate contact devices. At high forward gate bias, in the case of high-leakage Schottky contact, the dominant current conduction mechanism is found to be thermionic field emission while it is Poole–Frenkle emission (PFE) for the case of low-leakage Schottky contact and the activation energy of trap states for PFE current is derived as 0.6 eV. Besides, related models are also proposed to describe the gate leakage current in p-GaN gate HEMTs and they match well with the experimental gate leakage current within a wide range of temperatures and gate biases.

On electrical and interfacial properties of iron and platinum Schottky barrier diodes on (111) n-type Si0.65Ge0.35

Current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage–frequency (C–V–f) and conductance–voltage–frequency (G/[Formula: see text]–V–f) characteristics of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)-deposited Fe/n-Si[Formula: see text]Ge[Formula: see text] (FM1) and Pt/[Formula: see text]-Si[Formula: see text]Ge[Formula: see text](PM2) (111) orientated Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have been investigated at room-temperature. Barrier height ([Formula: see text]), ideality factor (n) and series resistance (R[Formula: see text]) were extracted. Dominant current conduction mechanisms were determined. They revealed that Poole–Frenkel-type conduction mechanism dominated reverse current. Differences in shunt resistance confirmed the difference found in leakage current. Under forward bias, quasi-ohmic conduction is found at low voltage regions and space charge-limited conduction (SCLC) at higher voltage regions for both SBDs. Density of interface states (N[Formula: see text]) indicated a difference in interface reactivity. Distribution profiles of series resistance (R[Formula: see text]) with bias gives a peak in depletion region at low-frequencies that disappears with increasing frequencies. These results show that interface states density and series resistance of Schottky diodes are important parameters that strongly influence electrical properties of FM1 and PM2 structures.

Microstructural, chemical states and electrical properties of Au/CuO/n-InP heterojunction with a cupric oxide interlayer

Cupric oxide (CuO) is synthesized by simple chemical bath deposition method and deposited on n-type InP substrate using e-beam evaporation technique. First, the structural and chemical compositional analysis of CuO/n-InP are analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD and XPS results confirmed that the formation of CuO on n-type InP substrate. Then, Au/CuO/n-InP heterojunction is fabricated with a CuO interlayer and correlated its results with the Au/n-InP Schottky junction (SJ). The barrier height (Φb) and ideality factor (n) are extracted through I-V and C-V methods and the respective values are 0.66 eV (I-V)/0.80 eV (C-V) and 1.24, and 0.78 eV (I-V)/0.94 eV (C-V) and 1.62 for the SJ and HJ diodes, respectively. By applying Cheung's and Norde functions, the Φb, ideality factor and series resistance (RS) are derived for the SJ and HJ diodes. The derived interface state density (NSS) of HJ is lower than the SJ; results demonstrated that the CuO interlayer plays an important role in the decreased NSS. The Poole-Frenkel emission is the dominant current conduction mechanism in reverse bias of both SJ and HJ diodes.

Low voltage resistive memory devices based on graphene oxide–iron oxide hybrid

Low cost resistive switching memory devices using graphene oxide–iron oxide (GF) hybrid thin films, sandwiched between platinum (Pt) and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes, were demonstrated. The fabricated devices with Pt/GF/ITO structure exhibited reliable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching performance, with an ON/OFF current ratio of 5×103, excellent retention time longer than 105s, SET voltage of 0.9V, and good endurance properties. In all aspects of the device characteristics, the GF based devices outperformed graphene oxide (GO) based devices. Ohmic conduction was found to be dominant current conduction mechanism in all switching regions except for the high voltage regime where space charge limited conduction and trap charge limited conduction were found to be the main current conduction mechanism. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy/selected area diffraction analysis revealed γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 iron oxide phases coexist in the hybrid films. While the desorption/adsorption of oxygen-related functional groups on the GO sheets is the dominant resistive switching mechanism in Pt/GO/ITO devices, the formation/rupture of multiple highly conducting Fe3O4 filaments at the iron oxide/GO interface additionally facilitate the switching in the present Pt/GF/ITO devices. Thereby, excellent electrical switching performance was achieved.

Study of La-Incorporated HfO2 MIM Structure Fabricated Using PLD System for Analog/Mixed Signal Applications

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with Al/HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /La <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> /Al structure were fabricated using pulse laser deposition for the first time and were further investigated for their electrical and morphological properties. The MIM capacitors for future applications in analog/mixed signal circuits need further improvement in their electrical characteristics. We have fabricated MIM capacitors having low leakage current density of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math>$\sim 9.6 \times 10^{-9}$</tex-math></inline-formula> A/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at −1 V and high-capacitance density ∼20.8 fF/μm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at 3.5 V for 100-Hz frequency. The frequency dispersion effect of these MIM capacitors is observed to be quite small. We have also obtained an improved voltage coefficient of capacitance of ∼101 ppm/V <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at 1 MHz along with improved dielectric constant which is one of the most important parameters for next generation MIM capacitors. The physical thickness of HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /La <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> dielectric film stack is found to be 13 nm in cross-section TEM. This value of physical thickness is consistent with the low EOT ∼1.66-nm estimated using <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">C–V</i> curve. Morphological studies of having nanostructured film morphology with low roughness are consistent with the electrical characteristics of MIM capacitors. Further improvement in electrical properties like lower leakage current density, etc., has been obtained in post metallic annealed MIM capacitors. We have observed Schottky emission as the dominant current conduction mechanism for these MIM capacitors.

Resistive switching and current conduction mechanism in full organic resistive switch with the sandwiched structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate)/poly(4-vinylphenol)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate)

The paper reported the fabrication of full organic resistive switch (FORS) with the sandwich structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)/poly(4-vinylphenol)(PVP)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS). The fabricated FORS elucidated reversible bipolar resistive switching behavior at higher operational voltage between −20 V and +30 V. The switching mechanism in the FORS device was attributed to the hole injection through PEDOT:PSS electrode and filling of trap sites in the PVP sandwiched layer by the limited injection. Current conduction mechanisms were concluded and supported by the charge transport governing physical laws. The dominant current conduction mechanism in the fabricated FORS was attributed to the transition from trap-limited space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction to trap-free SCLC conduction mechanism. The robustness of the fabricated FORS was tested over 100 multiple voltage sweeps.

Current conduction and resistive switching characteristics of Sm2O3 and Lu2O3 thin films for low-power flexible memory applications

In this article, the current conduction and resistive switching (RS) behavior in flexible Sm2O3 and Lu2O3 resistive random access memories (ReRAM) are investigated. Amorphous Sm2O3 and Lu2O3 thin films were deposited at room temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate. The structural morphologies of the Sm2O3 and Lu2O3 thin films strongly depend on the lattice energy of the oxides. The dominant current conduction mechanism in the oxide layer changes from electrode control Schottky emission in Sm2O3 to bulk controlled space-charge-limited-current in Lu2O3. The barrier height extracted from Schottky emission model is 0.96 eV in Sm2O3 thin film, while the activation energy of traps calculated from the Arrhenius plots is about 0.23 eV in Lu2O3 thin film. Additionally, the Ni/Sm2O3/ITO flexible memory device shows promising RS behavior with very low power of operation (∼30 μW) and small distribution of switching parameters. The memory reliability characteristics of switching endurance, data retention, good flexibility, and mechanical endurance show promising for future memory applications. The filament conduction model is adopted to describe the RS behavior in the Sm2O3 and Lu2O3 ReRAM devices. The improved RS performance in Sm2O3 thin film is attributed to the different physical properties of the thin films.

Resistive switching behavior in Lu2O3 thin film for advanced flexible memory applications

In this article, the resistive switching (RS) behaviors in Lu2O3 thin film for advanced flexible nonvolatile memory applications are investigated. Amorphous Lu2O3 thin films with a thickness of 20 nm were deposited at room temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate. The structural and morphological changes of the Lu2O3 thin film were characterized by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The Ru/Lu2O3/ITO flexible memory device shows promising RS behavior with low-voltage operation and small distribution of switching parameters. The dominant switching current conduction mechanism in the Lu2O3 thin film was determined as bulk-controlled space-charge-limited-current with activation energy of traps of 0.33 eV. The oxygen vacancies assisted filament conduction model was described for RS behavior in Lu2O3 thin film. The memory reliability characteristics of switching endurance, data retention, good flexibility, and mechanical endurance show promising applications in future advanced memory.