Quantifying redox-induced Schottky barrier variations in memristive devices via in operando spectromicroscopy with graphene electrodes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27539213.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms12398 and PMC identifier 4992164.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The continuing revolutionary success of mobile computing and smart devices calls for the development of novel, cost- and energy-efficient memories. Resistive switching is attractive because of, inter alia, increased switching speed and device density. On electrical stimulus, complex nanoscale redox processes are suspected to induce a resistance change in memristive devices. Quantitative information about these processes, which has been experimentally inaccessible so far, is essential for further advances. Here we use in operando spectromicroscopy to verify that redox reactions drive the resistance change. A remarkable agreement between experimental quantification of the redox state and device simulation reveals that changes in donor concentration by a factor of 2-3 at electrode-oxide interfaces cause a modulation of the effective Schottky barrier and lead to >2 orders of magnitude change in device resistance. These findings allow realistic device simulations, opening a route to less empirical and more predictive design of future memory cells.