Resistive switching in HfO2-x/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 heterostructure: An intriguing case of low H-field susceptibility of an E-field controlled active interface

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that resistive switching in HfO2-x/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 heterostructures can be effectively controlled by very low magnetic fields, revealing a novel low-field susceptibility of the active interface for potential ReRAM applications.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach to tuning resistive switching in heterostructures using low magnetic fields, highlighting the active role of the interface in device control.

Findings

Resistive switching exhibits high on/off ratio and stability.

Magnetic field of 30 mT can quench and freeze the switching state.

The quenched state can be recovered with higher bias voltage.

Abstract

High-performance non-volatile resistive random access memories (ReRAM) and their small stimuli control are of immense interest for high-speed computation and big-data processing in the emergent Internet of Things (IOT) arena. Here, we examine the resistive switching (RS) behavior in growth controlled HfO2/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 heterostructures and their tunability under low magnetic field. It is demonstrated that oxygen-deficient HfO2 films show bipolar switching with high on/off ratio, stable retention, as well as good endurance owing to the orthorhombic-rich phase constitution and charge (de)-trapping-enabled Schottky-type conduction. Most importantly, we have demonstrated that, the RS can be tuned by a very low externally applied magnetic field (0-30 mT). Remarkably, application of a magnetic field of 30 mT causes the RS to be fully quenched and frozen in the high resistance state (HRS) even after the removal of magnetic field. However, the quenched state could be resurrected by applying higher bias voltage than the one for initial switching. This is argued to be a consequence of the electronically and ionically active nature of the HfO2-x/LSMO interface on both sides, and its susceptibility to the electric and low magnetic field effects. This result could pave the way for new designs of interface engineered high-performance oxitronic ReRAM devices.