Negative Differential Resistance Effect Research Articles

Analyzing negative differential resistance and capacitive effects in SiOx-based resistive switching devices for security applications

In this work, we analyze the negative differential resistance and capacitive effects in SiOx-based resistive switching devices. The cause of the negative differential effect has been investigated through the study of the switching mechanism in the devices. It has been observed that there is a combination of trap-controlled space charge limited conduction and trap-assisted Poole-Frenkel effect in the devices. Trapping and de-trapping of injected electrons in the defects within the silica structure causes the negative differential resistance effect. This characteristic feature can be employed to design chaotic circuits for security applications. In addition, the high electric field developed in the device compared to the applied field during the change of bias voltage from ±5V–0V, results in a capacitor discharge-like effect. This work will be a step forward in achieving the global Sustainable Development Goal of Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).

Large magnetoresistance and spin negative differential resistance in photoisomers-based molecular spin valves

By using non-equilibrium Green's functions in combination with density functional theory, the spin transport properties of photoisomers-based molecular spin valves constructed by salicylidene methylamine connected with two cobalt- dibenzotetraaza[14]annulene (Co-DBTAA) complex molecules via acetylene linkers are explored. A large magnetoresistance (MR) effect with a MR ratio larger than 104 can be observed in the molecular spin valves whether salicylidene methylamine is in the cis-enol form or the trans-keto form. Moreover, spin negative differential resistance (NDR) effects are also observed in the photoisomers-based molecular spin valves. The spin transport mechanisms are explored for MR and spin NDR effects observed in the molecular spin valves.

"V"-Shaped Changing Electronic Performance of Iodinene-Based Nanoflakes as a Function of Width.

Special structures and prominent performance make 2D iodinene more appealing and valuable at the molecular level. Here, new-type electronic devices have been constructed with iodinene-based nanoflakes in different sizes and are theoretically studied for electronic transport properties. Our findings reveal that iodinene-based nanoflakes possess great electron transport suppression, achieving the same function as SiO2 on single molecule scale. Such transport suppression shows surprisingly nonlinear "V"-shaped trend with the width of the iodinene-based nanoflake. The medium-width iodinene-based nanoflake exhibits the strongest electron transport suppression, while the narrowest and widest ones display the largest electron transmission coefficients due to delocalized transmission eigenstates. Essentially, the weakest electron transport originates from an extremely small DOS and wide HOMO-LUMO gap. Specifically, increasing the width would diminish the extension of electronic states for the dominant transport orbitals, resulting in more butterfly-like electronic states. In non-equilibrium, negative differential resistance effect can be observed in iodinene-based devices, caused by the weakening and staying away from the Fermi level of transmission peaks influenced by the bias. Our findings provide insights into the relationship between the width of iodinene-based nanoflake and electronic transport properties, and lay a foundation in the device design and applications in molecular insulators and controllable-functional devices.

Molecular switching by proton-coupled electron transport drives giant negative differential resistance

To develop new types of dynamic molecular devices with atomic-scale control over electronic function, new types of molecular switches are needed with time-dependent switching probabilities. We report such a molecular switch based on proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction with giant hysteric negative differential resistance (NDR) with peak-to-valley ratios of 120 ± 6.6 and memory on/off ratios of (2.4 ± 0.6) × 103. The switching dynamics probabilities are modulated by bias voltage sweep rate and can also be controlled by pH and relative humidity, confirmed by kinetic isotope effect measurements. The demonstrated dynamical and environment-specific modulation of giant NDR and memory effects provide new opportunities for bioelectronics and artificial neural networks.

The negative differential resistance of nitrogen implanted TiO2

The microstructure and negative differential resistance (NDR) effect of nitrogen implanted rutile TiO2 were investigated by measuring the XPS, Raman spectra and current voltage curves. It was found that the light illumination has large influence on the NDR effect. Under the illumination of 60 mW laser light, a large NDR with a small electric field (1250 V/cm) is obtained. This electric field is about three orders smaller than that reported in literature (1×106 V/cm). The electric field induced tunneling is the possible mechanism of electric transport at higher field region. The NDR is thought to be related to the light and nitrogen dopant induced reaction including the destroying of water, the scavenging of electron, and the surface oxidation transform of non-stoichiometric TiO2−x to stoichiometric insulating state. The results of this paper are not only useful in understanding the mechanism of NDR, but also useful in providing an effective method in manipulation NDR.

The transport properties and new device design: A case of doped armchair blue phosphorene nanoribbons

We design two p-n nanojunctions based on S- and Si- atoms doped armchair blue phosphorene nanoribbons (aBPNRs) including two semi-infinite electrodes and a scattering region and investigate their electronic and transport properties. Our calculations are based on density functional theory incorporated non-equilibrium Green's function approach. In impure aBPNRs, S/Si atoms substituted doping could greatly enhance the conductivity, and the S/Si doped aBPNRs show metallic properties. Based on the doped aBPNRs, devies D1 and D2 are constructed where the scattering region of D1 is formed by direct expansion of two electrodes, while the scattering region of D2 includes two undoped unit cells as buffer. The transport calculations show that both of D1 and D2 show excellent negative differential resistance (NDR) effect at low bias and significant rectification effects at high bias. Moreover, whether there is buffer in the scattering region has a great influence on the magnitude of current of the devices. Although the current of the device D1 without buffer is generally higher than that of the device D2, the NDR and rectification effects of D2 are better than D1 in terms of peak-to-valley ratio and rectification rate. These transport behaviors can be explained by the evolution of the transmission spectra, frontier molecular orbital and the symmetry matching between the band structures of the electrodes. This indicates that aBPNRs are a promising candidate for the future application of multi-functional electronic devices.

Sensing-performance improvement of 2D MoSH based gas sensors for detecting NO, NO2, and NH3 gas molecules

Nitrogen group oxide is one of the major pollutants in the air, and its accurate and rapid detection is essential for environmental protection and human health. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop high-performance new line sensor for Nitrogen group oxide. Here, we investigate the potential of monolayer 2D MoSH materials as candidates for NO gas sensing using a combination of density functional theory and non-equilibrium functions to construct nanodevices based on MoSH monolayer, and theoretically study the adsorption behavior of MoSH monolayer to NO, NO2, and NH3 gas molecules. The results indicate that MoSH monolayer exhibit metallicity, and nanodevices based on 2D MoSH monolayer exhibit anisotropic transport properties and significant negative differential resistance effects(NDR). More interestingly, gas sensors based on MoSH monolayers exhibit typical chemical adsorption of NO, NO2, and NH3 gas molecules, and the anisotropic transport properties still maintain, but significant differences of sensitivity appear for these three gas molecules. Specifically, the MoSH based gas sensor has the highest sensitivity to NO, reaching 93.1% and 76.3% along the armchair and zigzag directions, respectively. These results show that 2D MoSH monolayer is an excellent gas-sensing material with excellent application prospects for NO gas detection.

Edge state regulation and interfacial design on spin transport properties of VC2-based nanoscale devices

Edge state and interfacial design are efficient strategies to regulate the spin-transport properties of nanoscale devices. Spin-polarized transport properties of VC2 nanoribbon device and poly-(terphenylene-butadiynylene) PTB molecular junctions are studied by using density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green function. Results show good self-selected filtering properties for spin-up current are highly suppressed, where there is only spin-down current that can propagate through the scattering region of such a nanoribbon device. What needs to be pointed out is that spin-down current exhibits an obvious negative differential resistance effect. Current and transmission spectrum peaks are significantly weakened, and the negative differential resistance effect disappears after a PTB molecule is embedded between two semi-infinite VC2 nanoribbon electrodes. This work provides a basis for improving the design and method of spintronic devices.

Unveiling Negative Differential Resistance and Superionic Conductivity: Water Anchored on Layered Materials.

Unravelling the perplexing nature of negative differential resistance (NDR) in 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (2D TMD) devices, especially regarding intrinsic properties, is hindered by experiments conducted in ambient environments. A thorough investigation is essential for unveiling the actual mechanism. In this study, we provide compelling evidence of the NDR effect with a remarkably high peak-to-valley current ratio and proton-diffused superionic conductivity in quantum-confined water molecules anchored to a thin film of 2D TMDs. Our investigation underscores the crucial role of ambient moisture for this robust NDR effect independent of underlying materials used. The bonding of water molecules to the existing sulfur defect sites on 2D TMD nanoflakes facilitates the formation of bridges between two planar metal electrodes, thus enabling superionic in-plane protonic conduction. During electrolysis of chemisorbed water, protons are liberated at the anode and migrate toward the cathode during bias voltage sweeping. Nevertheless, proton diffusion encounters increasing impedance beyond a certain applied bias, thereby restricting current flow even with higher biasing voltages, which is attributed to the interfacial Schottky energy barrier influenced by the Fermi level pinning effect. Our DFT simulations corroborate this mechanism, revealing minimal intermolecular interaction of H+ ions compared to OH- ions at distinct atomic sites on 2D TMD nanoflakes.

Intrinsic single-layer multiferroics in transition-metal-decorated chromium trihalides

Two-dimensional materials possessing intrinsic multiferroic properties have long been sought to harness the magnetoelectric coupling in nanoelectronic devices. Here, we report the achievement of robust type I multiferroic order in single-layer chromium trihalides by decorating transition metal atoms. The out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization exhibits strong atomic selectivity, where 12 of 84 single-layer transition metal-based multiferroic materials possess out-of-plane ferroelectric or antiferroelectric polarization. Group theory reveals that this phenomenon is strongly dependent on p–d coupling and crystal field splitting. Cu decoration enhances the intrinsic ferromagnetism of trihalides and increases the ferromagnetic transition temperature. Moreover, both ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases are obtained, providing opportunities for electrical control of magnetism and energy storage and conversion applications. Furthermore, the transport properties of Cu(CrBr3)2 devices are calculated based on the non-equilibrium Green’s function, and the results demonstrate outstanding spin-filtering properties and a low-bias negative differential resistance (NDR) effect for low power consumption.

Negative Differential Resistance in Single‐Molecule Junctions Based on Heteroepitaxial Spherical Au/Pt Nanogap Electrodes

AbstractSingle‐molecule junctions exploit the internal structure of molecular orbitals to construct a new class of functional quantum devices. The demonstration of negative differential resistance (NDR) in single‐molecule junctions is direct evidence of quantum mechanical tunneling through a molecular orbital. Here, a pronounced NDR effect is reported with a peak‐to‐valley ratio of 30.1 on a single‐molecule junction of π‐conjugated quinoidal‐fused oligosilole derivatives, Si2 × 2, embedded between the unique electroless gold‐plated heteroepitaxial spherical Au/Pt nanogap electrodes. This NDR feature persists in a consecutive endurance test of 180 current traces. the thermally stable NDR effects in the Si2 × 2 single‐molecule junctions between 9 and 300 K are demonstrated. The density functional theory calculations under electric fields indicate that the NDR effect can be ascribed to the bias‐dependent resonant tunneling transport via the polarized HOMO, which has asymmetrically changed electrode coupling with increased bias voltages. The results confirm a promising electrical platform for constructing functional quantum devices at the single‐molecule level.

The Negative Differential Resistance Effect of Substitutional Doped Monolayer GeS and Its Application in Gas Sensor

The Negative Differential Resistance Effect of Substitutional Doped Monolayer GeS and Its Application in Gas Sensor

Biaxila strain modulated high anisotropic gas-sensing performance of C5N-based two-dimensional devices: A first-principles study

Two-dimensional carbon nitride materials have been widely used in many applications such as device fabrication, gas adsorption and separation due to their abundant element resources, high physicochemical stability and excellent electronic properties. In this paper, density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function method are used to study the electronic structure, transport characteristics and gas sensitivity of C5N-based structures. The results show that the electron transport exhibits obvious anisotropy, in which the electron transport in the armchair direction is more conductive than that in the zigzag direction. It is worth noting that the negative differential resistance effect exists in both directions. Furthermore, the transport and sensing characteristics of inorganic molecules (NO, CO, NO2, SO2, and NH3) adsorbed on the C5N monolayer are studied. The results show that CO, SO2 and NH3 exist on the surface of C5N in the form of physical adsorption, while NO and NO2 adhere to the surface of C5N in the form of chemical adsorption. The designed C5N gas sensor exhibits high sensitivity to NO and NO2 molecules, reaching 81 % sensitivity to NO2 at a 0.1 V bias voltage. Finally, the effect of strain on the adsorption properties of gas sensing devices is studied. Studies have shown that the application of -4 % strain in the armchair direction significantly increases the current of NO and NO2, significantly improving the performance of the gas sensor. Whether strain is applied to the device or gas adsorption, C5N materials always maintain significant anisotropy. This study shows that C5N is a highly anisotropic and sensitive two-dimensional material, which has broad application potential in the field of electronic properties and gas sensing.

Analysis and Mitigation of Negative Differential Resistance Effects with Hetero-gate Dielectric Layer in Negative-capacitance Field-effect Transistors

Analysis and Mitigation of Negative Differential Resistance Effects with Hetero-gate Dielectric Layer in Negative-capacitance Field-effect Transistors

Nonvolatile behavior of resistive switching memory in Ag/WOx/TiOy/ITO device based on WOx/TiOy heterojunction

Two-terminal structure memristors are the most promising electronic devices that could play a significant role in artificial intelligence applications of the next generation and the post-Moore era. In this work, we fabricated the memristive device by depositing a heterojunction WOx/TiOy functional layer onto an indium tin oxide substrate using magnetron sputtering. The Ag/WOx/TiOy/ITO device exhibits improved memory behavior of bipolar resistive switching (RS) nonvolatile compared to TiOy-based single-layer memristors, enabling it to meet high-density information storage requirements. Moreover, our device exhibited the coexistence of the negative differential resistance effect and the behavior of the RS memory. Through a comprehensive analysis of conductivity on the curve of current–voltage (I–V), a physical model based on the mechanism of space charge-limited current, ohmic conduction, and Schottky emission was suggested to explain the behavior device RS memory. This study's findings demonstrate that including a heterojunction bilayer WOx/TiOy as a functional layer can significantly improve the performance of memristive devices. This advancement expands the potential application of ferroelectric metallic oxide heterojunctions within the field of memristors.

Unveiling the mechanism behind the negative capacitance effect in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2-Based ferroelectric gate stacks and introducing a Circuit-Compatible hybrid compact model for Leakage-Aware NCFETs

This paper addresses the lack of understanding of the origin of negative capacitance (NC) effect in the hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) ferroelectric (FE) gate stack and proposes a new circuit-compatible hybrid compact model for NC field-effect transistors (NCFETs). The model supports Landau and Preisach FE models, encompassing multiple FE domains, FE leakage, and FE damping. The proposed model is experimentally validated, and the intrinsic switching speed of HZO is predicted. It is revealed that the NC effect in HZO stems from a mismatch in free charge and polarization switching rates. Performance evaluation of the model reveals that HZO-NCFET achieves ∼1.18x and ∼9.17x higher amplification at low and high frequencies compared to its PZT-NCFET counterpart. Our study demonstrates the superior ON-current (2.74 mA/µm) of the Engineered Leaky-HZO NCFET, surpassing FinFET and Germanium-source L-shaped TFET by ∼7.89x and ∼4.81x, respectively. This study briefly examines the direct causes of the negative drain-induced barrier lowering effect and negative differential resistance effect in Landau NCFETs. Furthermore, we emphasize the crucial role of FE thickness in determining the magnitude of the NC effect, offering valuable insights for the design and optimization of NC-based devices and circuits. Analysis of the Miller effect in NCFET-based inverters demonstrates significant improvements owing to high ON-current and voltage amplification, making them suitable for high-speed NCFET-based circuitry. Landau and Preisach NCFET-based inverters exhibit (50.70%, 51.34%) lower overshoots and (28.45%, 28.61%) reduced propagation delay compared to the NC nanowire FET-based inverter. Moreover, NCFET-based 2:1 fork circuits significantly reduce (46.69%, 51.37%) critical clock skew compared to CMOS FET-based circuits, showcasing the potential of NCFET technology in addressing timing violations in random logic paths. Furthermore, the Landau and Preisach NCFET-based ring oscillators (ROs) achieve (39.97%, 49.38%) and (52.65%, 62.92%) higher oscillation frequencies (fOSC) compared to state-of-the-art graphene FET-RO and CMOS-RO, respectively. The 15-stage Leaky-HZO and Engineered Leaky-HZO NCFET-ROs outperform the double gate-FET-RO by ∼2.19x and ∼16.69x in terms of fOSC, highlighting their superior performance in frequency-domain metrics. These findings demonstrate the potential of NCFET-based digital and mixed-signal circuits for high-performance integrated circuit designs.

Al2O3/SnC heterostructure: Physical properties, regulation effect and device design

Two van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures between Al2O3 and SnC monolayers are constructed by the Generalised Lattice Matching (GLM) method. We calculate the elastic constants of monolayers and heterostructure and find that the heterostructures show larger Young’s modulus (220−234) N/m compared with Al2O3 (SnC), the reasonable Poisson’s ratio is about 0.3 and gravity-induced bending is the order of 104, which is comparable to graphene. The electronic properties, optical absorption coefficient and transmission properties of the heterostructure also have been investigated. Some important discoveries can be obtained: The Al2O3/SnC heterostructure shows an indirect bandgap (Eg) semiconductor with 1.70 eV and type II band arrangement when the ferroelectric polarization of Al2O3 points to SnC. While the polarization direction of Al2O3 is opposite, the Eg is zero. The physical properties are manipulated by some conditions (strain and electric field), leading to transitioning between Type II and I semiconductors, semiconductors and metal can be experienced. Moreover, the heterostructures prefer the higher light adsorption coefficient (105 cm−1) compared to monolayers. The transport properties of the Al2O3/SnC linked by two silicene electrodes show an excellent tunnel electroresistance (TER) effect with 108, moreover, the negative differential resistance (NDR) effect and switching effect also can be observed.

Edge modified zigzag GeS nanoribbon devices with tunable electronic properties and significant negative differential resistance effect: A first principle study

Using density functional theory (DFT) in combination with non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF), we study the effects of edge modification on the structural, electronic, and transport properties of zigzag germanium sulphide nanoribbons (ZGeSNRs). Two different types of modification by H, F, and Cl atoms are considered, i.e., the unilateral edge modification (Ge or S edge) and the bilateral edge modification. The addition of modification atoms eliminates the dangling bonds at the edges and enhances the stability in general though the edge structure may be significantly modulated. The unilateral edge modifications do not change the metallic characteristics of ZGeSNRs but the bilateral edge modifications make them semiconductor. In addition, structures with one half-filled energy band separated from other bands can be realized to obtain strong negative differential resistance effects. A maximal peak-to-valley current ratio of 1.01×105 in the bias range 0.49–1.07 V is predicted in a H modified ZGeSNR, which should be promising for applications in low power and high performance nanoelectronic devices.

Strain-Modulated Electronic Transport Properties in Two-Dimensional Green Phosphorene with Different Edge Morphologies

Based on two-dimensional green phosphorene, we designed two molecular electronic devices with zigzag (Type 1) and whisker-like (Type 2) configurations. By combining density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF), we investigated the electronic properties of Types 1 and 2. Type 1 exhibits an interesting negative differential resistance (NDR), while the current characteristics of Type 2 show linear growth in the current–voltage curve. We studied the electronic transport properties of Type 1 under uniaxial strain modulation and find that strained devices also exhibit a NDR effect, and the peak-to-valley ratio of device could be controlled by varying the strain intensity. These results show that the transport properties of green phosphorene with different edge configuration are different, and the zigzag edge have adjustable negative differential resistance properties.

The electron transport properties and thermoelectric performance in graphene–boron–nitride-nanoribbon-based heterojunctions

The electron transport properties and thermoelectric performance in graphene–boron–nitride-nanoribbon-based heterojunctions (GNR-BNN heterojunctions) have been studied by first-principles calculation. It is found that the electronic transport properties and thermoelectric performance properties are highly sensitive to the geometry details of the GNR-BNN heterojunction. Notably, our calculations reveal that the GNR-BNN heterojunctions not only can present obvious negative differential resistance effects, but also can present high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT: the figure-of-merit ZT will be over 1 at room temperature T = 300 K. Moreover, the thermoelectric performance is significantly enhanced by the combination of defects and alternating boron-nitride structures. Therefore, the GNR-BNN heterojunctions will provide the possibilities for designing and fabrication of multifunctional molecular device design.