Preparation and patterning of HfO2 film via sol–gel method and resistive switching effect of Pt/HfO2/LaNiO3

Sol–gel method is a low-cost material preparation method; however, it is difficult to obtain a stable sol containing easily hydrolyzable metal ions via this method. In this study, a stable hafnium(IV) oxide (HfO2) sol was prepared by adding benzoyl acetone (BzAcH) modifier. Infrared absorption spectroscopy results showed that the BzAcH additive chelated with the Hf4+ ions in the sol, thus improving the hydrolysis resistance of the HfO2 sol, which in turn improved its stability. It was also found that the BzAcH-modified HfO2 gel film exhibited ultraviolet (UV) photosensitivity. After UV exposure, the film did not dissolve easily in organic solvents. Based on these properties, the micro processing of the HfO2 film was preliminarily explored, and HfO2 microstructures were successfully obtained. Additionally, the relative permittivity (εr) of HfO2 exhibited minimum (∼10.9) and maximum (∼20.6) values at heat-treatment (HT) temperatures of 350 and 450 °C, respectively. With the continuous increase in the HT temperature, εr first decreased and then increased slightly. Moreover, the current–voltage curves showed that the Pt/HfO2/LaNiO3 (LNO) structure exhibited a pronounced bipolar resistive switching (RS) effect, which was attributed to the fact that LNO could be used as an electrode and an oxygen vacancy (OV2+) storage layer for RS materials. Notably, the oxygen ions in HfO2 with a low degree of crystallinity are more likely to migrate within its body (which makes it easier to form OV2+s), therefore, the “Set” voltage of low-crystallinity HfO2 films is lower than that of high-crystallinity HfO2 films. The RS mechanism can be explained by the OV2+ conductive filament model. These results are of great practical significance for the low-cost preparation of HfO2 and the application of LNO as an oxide electrode.