Electroforming and switching properties of binary-oxide TiO2 thin films for nonvolatile memory applications

Unique TiO2 thin films for nonvolatile memory applications were successfully prepared on metal electrodes at various oxygen concentrations by utilizing a conventional rf magnetron sputtering system. All the samples clearly exhibited negative resistance phenomenon and nonvolatile memory switching behavior. In order to investigate the influence of the crystal structure and the cell size on the reversible resistance switching properties, we varied the cell size from 400 to 2500 AM, and the stability of the ON/OFF voltage was found to strongly depend on the crystallinity of the oxide materials. This electrically-induced effect, observed in binary-oxide materials at room temperature, hold both the benefit of new materials properties and the promise of applications for high-density nonvolatile memories.