Bipolar Resistive Switching in Junctions of Gallium Oxide and p-type Silicon.

Almadhoun, Mahmoud N; Speckbacher, Maximilian; Olsen, Brian C; Luber, Erik J; Sayed, Sayed Youssef; Tornow, Marc; Buriak, Jillian M · Nano Lett · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In this work, native GaO<sub><i>x</i></sub> is positioned between bulk gallium and degenerately doped p-type silicon (p<sup>+</sup>-Si) to form Ga/GaO<sub><i>x</i></sub>/SiO<sub><i>x</i></sub>/p<sup>+</sup>-Si junctions. These junctions show memristive behavior, exhibiting large current-voltage hysteresis. When cycled between -2.5 and 2.5 V, an abrupt insulator-metal transition is observed that is reversible when the polarity is reversed. The ON/OFF ratio between the high and low resistive states in these junctions can reach values on the order of 10<sup>8</sup> and retain the ON and OFF resistive states for up to 10<sup>5</sup> s with an endurance exceeding 100 cycles. The presence of a nanoscale layer of gallium oxide is critical to achieving reversible resistive switching by formation and dissolution of the gallium filament across the switching layer.