Resistive Switching Mechanisms on TaO[subscript x] and SrRuO[subscript 3] Thin-Film Surfaces Probed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

The local electronic properties of tantalum oxide (TaO[subscript x], 2 ≤ x ≤ 2.5) and strontium ruthenate (SrRuO[subscript 3]) thin-film surfaces were studied under the influence of electric fields induced by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip. The switching between different redox states in...

وصف كامل

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلفون الرئيسيون: Moors, Marco, Wedig, Anja, Bäumer, Christoph, Skaja, Katharina, Arndt, Benedikt, Dittmann, Regina, Waser, Rainer, Valov, Ilia, Adepalli, Kiran Kumar, Lu, Qiyang, Yildiz, Bilge, Tuller, Harry L.
مؤلفون آخرون: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
التنسيق: مقال
اللغة:en_US
منشور في: American Chemical Society (ACS) 2017
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108660
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9641-1901
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9155-3684
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8339-3222
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2688-5666
الوصف
الملخص:The local electronic properties of tantalum oxide (TaO[subscript x], 2 ≤ x ≤ 2.5) and strontium ruthenate (SrRuO[subscript 3]) thin-film surfaces were studied under the influence of electric fields induced by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip. The switching between different redox states in both oxides is achieved without the need for physical electrical contact by controlling the magnitude and polarity of the applied voltage between the STM tip and the sample surface. We demonstrate for TaO[subscript x] films that two switching mechanisms operate. Reduced tantalum oxide shows resistive switching due to the formation of metallic Ta, but partial oxidation of the samples changes the switching mechanism to one mediated mainly by oxygen vacancies. For SrRuO[subscript 3], we found that the switching mechanism depends on the polarity of the applied voltage and involves formation, annihilation, and migration of oxygen vacancies. Although TaO[subscript x] and SrRuO[subscript 3] differ significantly in their electronic and structural properties, the resistive switching mechanisms could be elaborated based on STM measurements, proving the general capability of this method for studying resistive switching phenomena in different classes of transition metal oxides.