Memristive Behaviour of Ag-doped-HfO₂ Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract The bipolar resistive switching is suitable for the applications of information storage, logical operation and neuromorphic computation. This paper reports the bipolar resistive switching behaviour in HfO2:Ag-based memristive device. Under DC sweeps, the Ag/HfO2:Ag/p++-Si device showed a uniform bipolar resistive switching feature with a resistance ratio of ~15. Moreover, in the low voltage sweeping region, the device showed analog resistive switching behaviour with gradual SET and gradual RESET characteristics. It is suggested that the formation/rupture of Ag-filament is crucial in the resistive switching, and the gradual changes in resistance might have resulted from the dissolution of Ag atoms from active Ag top electrode (TE) rather than only from local migration of Ag atoms inside the dielectric layer. This new memristor structure with the analog resistive switching is expected for the future application of memristor as a nonvolatile memory and neuromorphic computing.