Effect of Surface Variations on the Performance of Yttria Based Memristive System

The effect of the statistical distribution of the grain surface area on the variations of switching voltages (set/reset or both) has been discussed in this report. Dual ion beam sputtered yttria-based memristive devices show unipolar and bipolar resistive switching (RS) for amorphous thin-film and polycrystalline thin-film devices, respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscope image analysis techniques reveal that the standard deviation (SD) of the switching voltages is directly correlated with the SD of grain surface area of oxide layers. It is found that devices with the amorphous thin film have a smaller SD of the switching voltages than polycrystalline thin-film devices. The endurance measurement of the device with amorphous oxide layer indicates highly reliable and reproducible RS characteristics for ~23 000 switching cycles.