Organic nonvolatile memory by controlling the dynamic copper-ion concentration within organic layer

Copper (Cu) migration into semiconductor materials like silicon is a well-known and troublesome phenomenon often causing adverse effect on devices. Generally a diffusion barrier layer is added to prevent Cu metallization. We demonstrate an organic nonvolatile memory device by controlling the Cu-ion (Cu+) concentration within the organic layer. When the Cu+ concentration is high enough, the device exhibits a high conductive state due to the metallization effect. When the Cu+ concentration is low, the device displays a low conductance state. These two states differ in their electrical conductivity by more than seven orders of magnitude and can be precisely switched by controlling the Cu+ concentration through the application of external biases. The retention time of both states can be more than several months, and the device is promising for flash memory application. Discussions about the device operation mechanism are provided. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.