Resistive switching behaviour in ZrO2-CNT nanocomposite film

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Vol. 130; no. 8
• Main Authors: Sharma, Aman, Faraz, Mohd, Khare, Neeraj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atomic properties; Carbon nanotubes; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Conduction; Filaments; Machines; Manufacturing; Memory devices; Nanocomposites; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Random access memory; Surfaces and Interfaces; Switching; Temperature dependence; Thin Films; Zirconium dioxide; Resistive random access memory device; Low resistive state; Resistance-temperature measurement; ZrO; High resistive state
• ISSN: 0947-8396; 1432-0630
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-024-07721-2

Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM) devices are being regarded as very promising choices for the future of non-volatile memory technology. The subject comprises crucial components like as material engineering, device architectural optimization, switching mechanisms, and improvements in reliability. This study examines the resistive switching capabilities of a device made from a ZrO 2 -CNT nanocomposite. The device was constructed utilizing a trilayer structure consisting of FTO/ZrO 2 -CNT/Ag, with the ZrO 2 -CNT film being fabricated by the spray coating technique. Incorporating 1wt% CNT into the ZrO 2 matrix reduces the bias voltage needed for resistive switching and approximately doubles the resistance ratio between HRS and LRS. The use of higher weight percentages of carbon nanotubes (CNT) negatively impacts the switching properties. The temperature dependence of resistance of ZrO 2 and ZrO 2 -1wt% CNT devices reveals that in ZrO 2 , O 2 vacancies align to create conducting filaments. On the other hand, in the ZrO 2 -CNT device, both vacancies of O 2 atoms and CNTs contribute to the production of conducting filaments. Inclusion of higher weight percentages of carbon nanotubes (CNT) leads to the formation of permanent conduction paths, which are electrical shorts and results in the loss of the switching capability.