Neutral Oxygen Beam Treated ZnO-Based Resistive Switching Memory Device

The room-temperature oxidation process allows irradiation with neutral oxygen particles onto the resistive layer that leads to the absorption of oxygen by the surface of the ZnO layer. The irradiation is effective in controlling the defect concentrations; thus, the ON and OFF resistances of devices can be significantly increased. These characteristics promote the occurrence of resistive switching at much lower current compliance as well as induce switching behavior in very thin ZnO films with thicknesses of 14-42 nm. The thickness dependence of the transformation from filamentary to homogeneous switching was also studied using the neutral beam technique, and the underlying mechanism is discussed.