Illumination Effect on Bipolar Switching Properties of Gd:SiO2 RRAM Devices Using Transparent Indium Tin Oxide Electrode

Kai-Huang Chen; Kuan-Chang Chang; Ting-Chang Chang; Tsung-Ming Tsai; Shu-Ping Liang; Tai-Fa Young; Yong-En Syu; Simon M Sze

doi:10.1186/s11671-016-1431-8

Illumination Effect on Bipolar Switching Properties of Gd:SiO2 RRAM Devices Using Transparent Indium Tin Oxide Electrode

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2016 Dec;11(1):224. doi: 10.1186/s11671-016-1431-8. Epub 2016 Apr 27.

Authors

Kai-Huang Chen¹, Kuan-Chang Chang², Ting-Chang Chang^{3

4}, Tsung-Ming Tsai², Shu-Ping Liang⁵, Tai-Fa Young⁵, Yong-En Syu⁵, Simon M Sze^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Tung Fang Design Institute, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. d9131802@gmail.com.
² Department of Materials and Optoelectronic Science, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Physics, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. tcchang@mail.phys.nsysu.edu.tw.
⁴ Advanced Optoelectronics Technology Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. tcchang@mail.phys.nsysu.edu.tw.
⁵ Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁶ Advanced Optoelectronics Technology Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Electronics Engineering and Institute of Electronics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Abstract

To discuss the optoelectronic effect on resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices, the bipolar switching properties and electron-hole pair generation behavior in the transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode of Gd:SiO2 thin films under the ultraviolet (λ = 400 nm) and red-light (λ = 770 nm) illumination for high resistance state (HRS)/low resistance state (LRS) was observed and investigated. In dark environment, the Gd:SiO2 RRAM devices exhibited the ohmic conduction mechanism for LRS, exhibited the Schottky emission conduction and Poole-Frankel conduction mechanism for HRS. For light illumination effect, the operation current of the Gd:SiO2 RRAM devices for HRS/LRS was slightly increased. Finally, the electron-hole pair transport mechanism, switching conduction diagram, and energy band of the RRAM devices will be clearly demonstrated and explained.

Keywords: Gadolinium; Illumination effect; Nonvolatile memory; RRAM; Silicon oxide.