Bipolar resistive switching characteristics of PbZrO3/LaNiO3 heterostructure thin films prepared by a sol-gel process

Herein, PbZrO3 (PZO) films with good density and homogeneity were grown on a LaNiO3 (LNO)-buffered Si(100) substrate by a conventional and low-cost sol-gel spin-coating technique. The results indicated that the PZO films prepared on the LNO/Si substrate can be fabricated into a Au/PZO/LNO/Si heterojunction device via annealing at 650 degrees C under an air atmosphere. The device exhibited excellent and repeatable bipolar resistance switching (RS) behavior at room temperature. Its high/low resistance ratio reached 10(2) at +0.2 and -0.2 V bias voltages, and the RS characteristics of the device did not significantly deteriorate after 100 consecutive cycles of testing. Weibull distribution results show that the proposed device has a uniform and stable high/low-resistance state. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the conduction mechanisms of the device are Ohmic conduction and Schottky emission. The modulation of a Schottky-like barrier owing to the migration of oxygen vacancies in the PZO films is considered to be responsible for the RS phenomenon of the Au/PZO/LNO/Si device.

Automated summary

This study successfully fabricated PbZrO3 (PZO) films on a LaNiO3 (LNO)-buffered Si(100) substrate using a sol-gel spin-coating technique, and demonstrated excellent bipolar resistance switching (RS) behavior in the resulting Au/PZO/LNO/Si heterojunction device. The device showed a high/low resistance ratio of 10^2 at bias voltages of +0.2 and -0.2 V, with RS characteristics remaining stable after 100 consecutive cycles of testing. Weibull distribution analysis indicated a uniform and stable high/low-resistance state, and conduction mechanisms were identified as Ohmic conduction and Schottky emission, with the RS phenomenon attributed to modulation of a Schottky-like barrier due to oxygen vacancy migration in the PZO films.