Chemical Vapor-Deposited Vanadium Pentoxide Nanosheets with Highly Stable and Low Switching Voltages for Effective Selector Devices

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Dec 12;10(49):42875-42881. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b15686. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Abstract

Recently, attempts to overcome the physical limits of memory devices have led to the development of promising materials and architectures for next-generation memory technology. The selector device is one of the essential ingredients of high-density stacked memory systems. However, complicated constituent deposition conditions and thermal degradation are problematic, even with effective selector device materials. Herein, we demonstrate the highly stable and low-threshold voltages of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) nanosheets synthesized by facile chemical vapor deposition, which have not been previously reported on the threshold switching (TS) properties. The electrons occupying trap sites in poly-crystalline V2O5 nanosheet contribute to the perfectly symmetric TS feature at the bias polarity and low-threshold voltages in V2O5, confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements. Furthermore, we find an additional PdO interlayer in V2O5 nanodevices connected with a Pd/Au electrode after thermal annealing treatment. The PdO interlayer decreases the threshold voltages, and the Ion/ Ioff ratio increases because of the increased trap density of V2O5. These studies provide insights into V2O5 switching characteristics, which can support low power consumption in nonvolatile memory devices.

Keywords: nanosheets; selector devices; thermal annealing treatment; threshold switching; vanadium pentoxide.