Mechanism study of reversible resistivity change in oxide thin film

Abstract

Here we present our findings related to the mechanism of reversible resistivity in Pt/TiO2/Pt cells and in Ta2O5 thin films. Our findings for Pt/TiO2/Pt cells indicate that there exists a photovoltaic-like effect, which modulates the resistance reversibly by a few orders of magnitude, depending on the intensity of impinging x-rays. We found that this effect, combined with the x-ray irradiation induced phase transition confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, triggers a non-volatile reversible resistance change. For Ta2O5 thin films, we found that there are strong correlations among oxygen vacancy number and positions and energy gaps. Ab initio band structure calculations explain the evolution of the electronic excitation spectrum as a function of oxygen vacancy number and positions and importantly provide a predictive description of the oxygen deficient Ta oxide that may improve the desired performance based on atomic level design. © The Electrochemical Society.