Controlling resistive switching behavior in the solution processed SiO(2-x) device by the insertion of TiO(2) nanoparticles

The resistive switching behavior of the solution processed SiO(x) device was investigated by inserting TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs). Compared to the pristine SiO(x) device, the TiO(2) NPs inserted SiO(x) (SiO(x)@TiO(2) NPs) device achieves outstanding switching characteristics, namely a higher ratio of SET/RESET, lower operating voltages, improved cycle-to-cycle variability, faster switching speed, and multiple-RESET states. Density functional theory calculation (DFT) and circuit breaker simulation (CB) were used to detail the origin of the outstanding switching characteristic of the SiO(x)@TiO(2) NPs. The improvement in resistive switching is mainly based on the difference in formation/rupture of the conductive path in the SiO(2) and SiO(2)@TiO(2) NPs devices. In particular, the reduction of resistance and lower switching voltage of TiO(2) NPs control the formation and rupture of the conductive path to achieve more abrupt switching between SET/RESET with higher on/off ratio. This method of combined DFT calculation and CB offers a promising approach for high-performance non-volatile memory applications.