Write-once read-many-times memory based on a single layer of Pentacene

TL;DR

This paper reports a simple organic memory device using a single layer of pentacene that achieves high ON/OFF ratios and long storage times, suitable for write-once read-many-times applications.

Contribution

The study demonstrates a reliable, high-performance organic WORM memory device with optimized pentacene layer thickness and deposition, surpassing previous results in durability and contrast.

Findings

ON/OFF ratio nearly 1,000,000

Storage time exceeds 576 hours

Transition mechanism involves interface dipole formation and damage

Abstract

We realized an organic electrical memory device with a simple structure based on single layer pentacene film embedded between Al and ITO electrodes. The optimization of the thickness and deposition rate of pentacene resulted in a reliable device with an ON/OFF current ratio as high as nearly 1000000 which was two orders of magnitude higher than previous results, and the storage time was more than 576 hrs. The current transition process is attributed to the formation and damage of the interface dipole at different electric fields, in which the current conduction showed a transition from Ohmic conductive current to Fowler?Nordheim tunnelling current. After the transition from ON state to OFF state, the device tended to remain in OFF state even when the applied voltage was removed, which indicated that the device was very promising for write-once read-many-times (WORM) memory.