Summary: | In this study, a bilayer HfO2/ZrO2 thin film structure was deposited by radio frequency sputtering at room temperature (RT) to investigate the resistive switching (RS) characteristics, mechanism as well as their reproducibility. Bilayer HfO2/ZrO2 structured device > 103 DC switching cycles at RT, and > 10 ON/OFF ratio. The RS uniformity and mechanism were evaluated by Gaussian data fitting and distributions of oxygen vacancies (VOs) in the HfO2 and ZrO2 layers through X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, respectively. Because of higher thermal conductivity (2.7Wm-1K-1) and lower Gibbs free energy (ΔGo=-1100kJ/mol) of ZrO2 layer as compared to those of HfO2 layer (1.1Wm-1K-1,ΔGo=-1010.8kJ/mol), an easier reduction and oxidation of filaments took place by exchanging oxygen ions with each other (ZrO2/HfO2). A VOs-based filamentary model has been proposed to explain RS mechanism. Furthermore, a current transport mechanism is noted be based on Schottky emission in the high field region of the high resistance states (HRS).
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