Mechanism for bipolar resistive switching in transition metal oxides

TL;DR

This paper presents a model explaining bipolar resistive switching in transition metal oxides through electric field-driven oxygen vacancy migration, supported by numerical simulations and experimental validation.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical model that captures the microscopic mechanisms behind resistive switching in transition metal oxides.

Findings

Electric fields cause oxygen vacancy migration at nano-scale.

Model predicts inhomogeneous vacancy distribution at interfaces.

Results reproduce resistance hysteresis observed experimentally.

Abstract

We introduce a model that accounts for the bipolar resistive switching phenomenom observed in transition metal oxides. It qualitatively describes the electric field-enhanced migration of oxygen vacancies at the nano-scale. The numerical study of the model predicts that strong electric fields develop in the highly resistive dielectric-electrode interfaces, leading to a spatially inhomogeneous oxygen vacancies distribution and a concomitant resistive switching effect. The theoretical results qualitatively reproduce non-trivial resistance hysteresis experiments that we also report, providing key validation to our model.