Modulation of resistance switching in Au/Nb:SrTiO3 Schottky junctions by ambient oxygen

We investigated the room-temperature current-voltage characteristics of Au/Nb:SrTiO3 Schottky junctions under various atmospheres and working pressures. We observed that oxygen partial pressure reversibly modulates junction response, briefly individual specimens behave as high-quality rectifiers in oxygen-rich atmospheres and as bipolar resistive switches in vacuum and inert gases. A two orders of magnitude modulation of resistance switching characterizes samples with the highest content of interfacial oxygen vacancies. We attribute this behavior to oxygen ionosorption and chemical oxidation at the metal-oxide interface. Our results are relevant to oxide devices displaying resistive switching at ambient-exposed interfaces, and might be exploited for gas detection purposes. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4771603]