Ag Nanoparticle-Decorated WO3 Nanowires for Nonvolatile Memory

Ag-decorated WO3 nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by using a glancing angle deposition technique on a Si(100) substrate. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that Ag-decorated WO3 NWs were crystalline in nature. The cross-sectional image of a field-emission gun scanning electron microscope confirms the growth of Ag Nanoparticles on vertical aligned WO3 NWs. Capacitance versus voltage and conductance versus voltage curve were performed at frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 1 MHz. A counterclockwise hysteresis loop at different sweep voltages was shown in the C-V characteristics of the Ag-decorated WO3 NWs, suggesting the charge trapping mechanism. The device exhibited a large memory window of similar to 12.02 V at +/- 10 V and low interface trap density of similar to 5.74 x 10(10) eV(-1) cm(-2) at 1 MHz. In addition, the endurance number of ON/OFF switching for the fabricated device was up to 1500 cycles. An ON/OFF resistance ratio of similar to 245 was shown with a stable retention time of 10(3) s. As a result, the remarkable performance of the Ag-decorated WO3 NWs could be a potential candidate in the next generation nonvolatile memory device.