Investigation into the Memristor Effect in Nanocrystalline ZnO Films

Abstract: The results of experimental investigations into the memristor effect and influence of annealing modes on the electrical properties of nanocrystalline zinc-oxide films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition are presented. The possibility of fabricating a nanocrystalline zinc-oxide film by pulsed laser deposition in a broad range of electrical (resistivity from 1.44 × 10 ^–5 to 8.06 × 10 ^–1 Ω cm) and morphological (roughness from 0.43 ± 0.32 to 6.36 ± 0.38 nm) parameters due to the use of post-growth annealing in oxygen (pressure 10 ^–1 and 10 ^–3 Torr, temperature 300 and 800°C, and duration from 1 to 10 h) is presented. It is shown that a nanocrystalline zinc-oxide film 58 ± 2 nm in thickness manifests a stable memristor effect slightly dependent on its morphology—applying a voltage of –2.5 and +4 V leads to switching between states with the resistance 3.3 ± 1.1 × 10 ⁹ and 8.1 ± 3.4 × 10 ⁷ Ω, respectively. These results can be used when developing designs and production processes of resistive random-access memory (RRAM) units based on the memristor effect as well as optoelectronics, microelectronics, and nanoelectronics and nanosystem devices.