2D Nanovaristors at Grain Boundaries Account for Memristive Switching in Polycrystalline BiFeO3
Abstract
Memristive switching in polycrystalline materials is widely attributed to the formation and rupture of conducting filaments, believed to be mediated by oxygen-vacancy redistribution. The underlying atomic-scale processes are still unknown, however, which limits device modeling and design. Here, experimental data are combined with multiscale calculations to elucidate the entire atomic-scale cycle in undoped polycrystalline BiFeO3. Conductive atomic force microscopy reveals that the grain boundaries behave like 2D nanovaristors, while on the return part of the cycle, the decreasing current is through the grains. Using density-functional-theory and Monte Carlo calculations, the atomic-scale mechanism of the observed phenomena is deduced. Oxygen vacancies in nonequilibrium concentrations are initially distributed relatively uniformly, but they are swept into the grain boundaries by an increasing voltage. A critical voltage, the SET voltage, then eliminates the barrier for hopping conduction through vacancy energy levels in grain boundaries. On the return part of the cycle, the grain boundaries are again nonconductive, but the grains show nonzero conductivity by virtue of remote doping by oxygen vacancies. The RESET voltage amounts to a heat pulse that redistributes the vacancies. The realization that nanovaristors are at the heart of memristive switching in polycrystalline materials may open possibilities for novel devices andmore »
- Authors:
-
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
- Southeast Univ., Nanjing (China). SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Lab. of MEMS of Ministry of Education; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo Zhejiang (China). Key Lab. of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Inst. of Materials Technology and Engineering
- Southeast Univ., Nanjing (China). SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Lab. of MEMS of Ministry of Education
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); McMinn Endowment
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1597678
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-09ER46554; 11204034; BK2012123; BK2012024; 61274114; 113279028; 11474295
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Electronic Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 1; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 2199-160X
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Memristive; Varistor; Grain Boundary; Monte Carlo; BiFeO3
Citation Formats
Shen, Xiao, Yin, Kuibo, Puzyrev, Yevgeniy S., Liu, Yiwei, Sun, Litao, Li, Run-Wei, and Pantelides, Sokrates T. 2D Nanovaristors at Grain Boundaries Account for Memristive Switching in Polycrystalline BiFeO3. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1002/aelm.201500019.
Shen, Xiao, Yin, Kuibo, Puzyrev, Yevgeniy S., Liu, Yiwei, Sun, Litao, Li, Run-Wei, & Pantelides, Sokrates T. 2D Nanovaristors at Grain Boundaries Account for Memristive Switching in Polycrystalline BiFeO3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.201500019
Shen, Xiao, Yin, Kuibo, Puzyrev, Yevgeniy S., Liu, Yiwei, Sun, Litao, Li, Run-Wei, and Pantelides, Sokrates T. Fri .
"2D Nanovaristors at Grain Boundaries Account for Memristive Switching in Polycrystalline BiFeO3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.201500019. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1597678.
@article{osti_1597678,
title = {2D Nanovaristors at Grain Boundaries Account for Memristive Switching in Polycrystalline BiFeO3},
author = {Shen, Xiao and Yin, Kuibo and Puzyrev, Yevgeniy S. and Liu, Yiwei and Sun, Litao and Li, Run-Wei and Pantelides, Sokrates T.},
abstractNote = {Memristive switching in polycrystalline materials is widely attributed to the formation and rupture of conducting filaments, believed to be mediated by oxygen-vacancy redistribution. The underlying atomic-scale processes are still unknown, however, which limits device modeling and design. Here, experimental data are combined with multiscale calculations to elucidate the entire atomic-scale cycle in undoped polycrystalline BiFeO3. Conductive atomic force microscopy reveals that the grain boundaries behave like 2D nanovaristors, while on the return part of the cycle, the decreasing current is through the grains. Using density-functional-theory and Monte Carlo calculations, the atomic-scale mechanism of the observed phenomena is deduced. Oxygen vacancies in nonequilibrium concentrations are initially distributed relatively uniformly, but they are swept into the grain boundaries by an increasing voltage. A critical voltage, the SET voltage, then eliminates the barrier for hopping conduction through vacancy energy levels in grain boundaries. On the return part of the cycle, the grain boundaries are again nonconductive, but the grains show nonzero conductivity by virtue of remote doping by oxygen vacancies. The RESET voltage amounts to a heat pulse that redistributes the vacancies. The realization that nanovaristors are at the heart of memristive switching in polycrystalline materials may open possibilities for novel devices and circuits.},
doi = {10.1002/aelm.201500019},
journal = {Advanced Electronic Materials},
number = 5,
volume = 1,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
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Figure 1: Current images at several voltages during a complete cycle. a, AFM image shows the morphology of the sample with a scanning size of 550 x 550 nm2. b-g. c-AFM images of the current signal with different external bias during a complete cycle.
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