Fabrication and resistive switching characteristics of high compact Ga-doped ZnO nanorod thin film devices

This study investigates the resistive switching behavior of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) nanorod thin films with various Ga/Zn molar ratios. Vertically well-aligned and uniform GZO nanorod thin films were successfully grown on Au/Ti/SiO2/p-Si substrates using an aqueous solution method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that GZO nanorods have [0001] highly preferred orientation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations show the formation of highly ordered and dense nanorod thin films. These compact GZO nanorod thin films can be used to make resistive switching memory devices. Such memory devices can be reversibly switched between ON and OFF states, with a stable resistance ratio of ten times, narrow dispersion of ON and OFF voltages, and good endurance performance of over 100 cycles. The resistive switching mechanism in these devices is related to the formation and rupture of conducting filaments consisting of oxygen vacancies, occurring at interfaces between GZO nanorods (grain boundaries). Results show that the resulting compact GZO nanorod thin films have a high potential for resistive memory applications.