Resistance Switching in Polycrystalline C12A7 Electride

The memory (memristive) properties of an electride material based on polycrystalline mayenite (C12A7:e(−)) were studied. The phase composition of the material has been confirmed by such methods as XRD, TEM, Raman, and infrared spectroscopy. The electride state was confirmed by conductivity measurements and EPR using a characteristic signal from F(+)—like centers, but the peak at 186 cm(−1), corresponding to an electride with free electrons, was not observed explicitly in the Raman spectra. The temperature dependence of current–voltage characteristics in states with low and high resistance (LRS and HRS) has been studied. In the LRS state, the temperature dependence of the current has a non-Arrhenius character and is described by the Hurd quantum tunnelling model with a Berthelot temperature of 262 K, while in the HRS state, it can be described in terms of the Arrhenius model. In the latter case, the existence of two conduction regions, “impurity” and “intrinsic”, with corresponding activation energies of 25.5 and 40.6 meV, was assumed. The difference in conduction mechanisms is most likely associated with a change in the concentration of free electrons.