Electrical Switching and Bistability in Organic/Polymeric Thin Films and Memory Devices

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 16; no. 8; pp. 1001 - 1014
• Main Authors: Yang, Y., Ouyang, J., Ma, L., Tseng, R. J.-H., Chu, C.-W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 19.05.2006; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Data storage; Electrical bistability; Electronics; metal; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles, metal; Organic electronics; Polymer nanocomposites
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.200500429

Recently, films created by incorporating metallic nanoparticles into organic or polymeric materials have demonstrated electrical bistability, as well as the memory effect, when subjected to an electrical bias. Organic and polymeric digital memory devices based on this bistable electronic behavior have emerged as a viable technology in the field of organic electronics. These devices exhibit fast response speeds and can form multiple‐layer stacking structures, demonstrating that organic memory devices possess a high potential to become flexible, ultrafast, and ultrahigh‐density memory devices. This behavior is believed to be related to charge storage in the organic or polymer film, where devices are able to exhibit two different states of conductivity often separated by several orders of magnitude. By defining the two states as “1” and “0”, it is now possible to create digital memory devices with this technology. This article reviews electrically bistable devices developed in our laboratory. Our research has stimulated strong interest in this area worldwide. The research by other laboratories is reviewed as well. Research on electrically bistable devices using organic or polymer thin films is reviewed. These bistable devices have high potential for application in nonvolatile digital memory. The figure shows an organic/polymeric memory device that has been developed at the University of California, Los Angeles. The devices can be switched on a nanosecond time scale, and the data can be stored for a long period of time.