Resistive switching of Pt/ZrO₂/YBa₂Cu₃O₇ sandwiches

¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P.R. China
² College of Physics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, P.R. China

^a e-mail: diwu@nju.edu.cn

Received: 26 June 2013
Revised: 10 October 2013
Accepted: 28 January 2014
Published online: 3 March 2014

Abstract

Resistive switching characteristics of Pt/ZrO₂/YBa₂Cu₃O₇ sandwiches are investigated for nonvolatile memory applications. Reproducible bipolar resistance switching with an on/off current ratio about 60 and long data retention are achieved. The conduction mechanism obeys Schottky emission in the low resistance state, while Poole-Frankel conduction is predominant in the high resistance state. The resistance switching of Pt/ZrO₂/YBa₂Cu₃O₇ sandwiches can be ascribed to migration and redistribution of oxygen vacancies around the ZrO₂/YBa₂Cu₃O₇ interface, which switches the conduction between the interface-controlled and the bulk-controlled mechanisms.