The Effect of Nitrogen Annealing on the Resistive Switching Characteristics of the W/TiO2/FTO Memory Device

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of nitrogen annealing on the resistive switching characteristics of the rutile TiO2 nanowire-based W/TiO2/FTO memory device is analyzed. The W/TiO2/FTO memory device exhibits a nonvolatile bipolar resistive switching behavior with a high resistance ratio (RHRS/RLRS) of about two orders of magnitude. The conduction behaviors of the W/TiO2/FTO memory device are attributed to the Ohmic conduction mechanism and the Schottky emission in the low resistance state and the high resistance state, respectively. Furthermore, the RHRS/RLRS of the W/TiO2/FTO memory device is obviously increased from about two orders of magnitude to three orders of magnitude after the rapid nitrogen annealing treatment. In addition, the change in the W/TiO2 Schottky barrier depletion layer thickness and barrier height modified by the oxygen vacancies at the W/TiO2 interface is suggested to be responsible for the resistive switching characteristics of the W/TiO2/FTO memory device. This work demonstrates the potential applications of the rutile TiO2 nanowire-based W/TiO2/FTO memory device for high-density data storage in nonvolatile memory devices.

Tunable Resistive Switching Behaviors and Mechanism of the W/ZnO/ITO Memory Cell

“…In recent decades, various oxides have acted as the dielectric materials for memristor applications. Among them, the transition metal oxides, such as ZnO [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ], TiO 2 [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 22 , 56 , 58 , 59 , 60 ], HfO 2 [ 11 ], GaO x [ 12 ], α-Fe 2 O 3 [ 13 ], Co 3 O 4 [ 14 ], CuO x [ 15 , 23 ], WO 3 [ 16 ], NiO [ 17 ], In 2 O 3 [ 18 ], TaO x [ 19 ], and CeO 2 [ 20 ] have become a new focus because of their excellent resistive switching performances. In recent decades, increasing interest has been paid to zinc oxide (ZnO)-based devices because of their features including non-toxicity, suitable band gap (3.37 eV), high electron mobility (~120 cm 2 Vs −1 ), large exciton-binding energy (60 meV), and small electron-hole collision ionization coefficient [ 21 ].…”