Thermophoresis/diffusion as a plausible mechanism for unipolar resistive switching in metal–oxide–metal memristors

We show that the SET operation of a unipolar memristor could be explained by thermophoresis, or the Soret effect, which is the diffusion of atoms, ions or vacancies in a steep temperature gradient. This mechanism explains the observed resistance switching via conducting channel formation and dissolution reported for TiO₂ and other metal-oxide-based unipolar resistance switches. Depending on the temperature profile in a device, dilute vacancies can preferentially diffuse radially inward toward higher temperatures caused by the Joule heating of an electronic current to essentially condense and form a conducting channel. The RESET operation occurs via radial diffusion of vacancies away from the channel when the temperature is elevated but the gradient is small.     

Negative differential resistance of a metal–insulator–metal device with gold nanoparticles embedded in polydimethylsiloxane

Metal–insulator–metal (MIM) devices play an important role in information storage cells. In this research, a MIM with an insulator made from polydimethylsiloxane blended with gold nanoparticles has been investigated. The current–voltage characteristic demonstrates a negative differential resistance (NDR) and memory effect. This article attempts to explain the NDR and memory effect, using the charge trapping and releasing mechanisms of the gold nanoparticles and also electron tunneling mechanisms.     

Multifunctional silicon-based light emitting device in standard complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology

A three-terminal silicon-based light emitting device is proposed and fabricated in standard 0.35 μ m complementary metal--oxide--semiconductor technology. This device is capable of versatile working modes: it can emit visible to near infra-red (NIR) light (the spectrum ranges from 500 nm to 1000 nm) in reverse bias avalanche breakdown mode with working voltage between 8.35 V--12 V and emit NIR light (the spectrum ranges from 900 nm to 1300 nm) in the forward injection mode with working voltage below 2 V. An apparent modulation effect on the light intensity from the polysilicon gate is observed in the forward injection mode. Furthermore, when the gate oxide is broken down, NIR light is emitted from the polysilicon/oxide/silicon structure. Optoelectronic characteristics of the device working in different modes are measured and compared. The mechanisms behind these different emissions are explored.     

Controllable switching ratio in quantum dot/metal–metal oxide nanostructure based non-volatile memory device

In this paper, we report a facile quantum dot/In?CInOx(nanostructure)/quantum dot/In based non-volatile resistive memory device. The solution processed tri-layer structure exhibited bipolar resistive switching with a ratio of 100 between the high-resistance state and low-resistance state. The memory device was stable and functional even after 100,000 cycles of operation and it exhibited good retention characteristics. The ON/OFF switching ratio could be controlled by choosing appropriate metal in the structure. Memory operating mechanism is discussed based on charge trapping in quantum dots with InOx acting as barrier. A comparative study of memory devices consisting of aluminum and titanium in place of indium is presented. The possible reason for the variation in ON/OFF ratio is discussed on the size of the nano-sized grains of the middle metal layer.     

Resistive switching effect in metal–oxide–metal structures with ZnO:Li oxide layer

The resistive switching effect in metal–oxide–metal (MOM) structures has been investigated, where the 10% Li-doped ZnO layer was used as an oxide layer, as well as Pt and 20% fluorine doped SnO₂ (SnO₂:F) were used as a bottom electrodes. The current–voltage (I–V) and switching (I–t) characteristics of Ag/ZnO:Li/Pt and Ag/ZnO:Li/SnO₂:F structures were investigated. The unipolar resistive switching is detected in the structures with the Pt, while the use of transparent conductive SnO₂:F electrode instead of Pt, results to the bipolar memory effect.     

Voltage-controlled Kosterlitz–Thouless transitions and various kinds of Kondo behaviors in a triple dot device

The transport property and phase transition for a parallel triple dot device are studied by adopting Wilson's numerical renormalization group technique, focusing on the effects of level spacings between neighboring dot sites. By keeping dot 2at the half-filled level and tuning the level differences, it is demonstrated that the system transits from local spin quadruplet to triplet and doublet sequently, and three kinds of Kondo peaks at the Fermi surface could be found, which are separated by two Kosterlitz–Thouless type quantum phase transitions and correspond to spin-3/2, spin-1, and spin-1/2 Kondo effect,respectively. To obtain a detailed understanding of these problems, the charge occupation, the spin–spin correlation, the transmission coefficient, and the temperature-dependent magnetic moment are shown, and necessary physical arguments are given.     

Simulation of superconducting single photon detector coupled with metal–insulator–metal concentric ring grating

Sub-wavelength metal–insulator–metal (MIM) concentric ring grating structure has been introduced to couple with superconducting single photon detector (SSPD) to enhance its response. The effects of the coupling structure parameters on the enhancement factor have been studied systematically. Our numerical simulation results show that the optical density arriving at the detection area of SSPD can be greatly enhanced by the structure of MIM concentric ring grating, corresponding to the improvement of detection response of the detector. A high enhancement factor more than 40 times can be obtained at wavelength of \(1.55~\upmu \hbox {m}\) with proper structure parameters.     

Platinum–aluminum alloy electrode for retention improvement of gadolinium oxide resistive switching memory

Platinum–aluminum (Pt–Al) alloy top electrode on the retention improvement of gadolinium oxide (Gd _x O _y ) resistive switching memory was investigated. The aluminum oxide (Al _x O _y ) formation at the Pt–Al alloy top electrode and Gd _x O _y interface will lead to the high Schottky barrier height. Further, the more aluminum incorporation can suppress the crystallization of platinum electrode after the post-metallization annealing. Both the crystallization suppression of Pt top electrode and the interfacial aluminum oxide formation will prevent the oxygen ions from out-diffusion through Pt grain boundaries, responsible for the retention enhancement of the Gd _x O _y resistive switching memory.     

Physics of a metal-correlated barrier–metal heterostructure

We consider a heterostructure of a metal and a barrier with onsite correlation at half filling using the unrestricted Hartree–Fock method. We find that, above a certain value of correlation strength in the barrier planes, the system is an antiferromagnetic insulator, while below this value the system is gapless with no spin density wave order but still with considerable charge inhomogeneity being present across the planes. The energy spectrum is found to have multiple gaps as the correlation strength is increased. The system is insulating for values of correlation above the critical value at which the gap at half filling opens up.     

Angular optical characteristics of light scattered by double-layer metal–oxide nanoparticles

The interaction of Tb(III)-2-{[(4-methoxy benzoyl) oxy]} methyl benzoic acid binary complex with nucleosides (adenosine, cytidine, guanosine and inosine) was investigated using UV and fluorescence methods. The reaction of Tb-complex with cytidine, guanosine and adenosine is accompanied by shift to longer wavelength in the absorption band, while there is a blue shift in the absorption band with an enhancement in the molar absorptivity upon the reaction with inosine. The fluorescence intensity of Tb(III)-2-{[(4- methoxy benzoyl) oxy]} methyl benzoic acid binary complex at λ = 545 nm (5D4 → 7F5) was decreased with the addition of the nucleoside molecule following the order: cytidine > inosine > guanosine > adenosine.     

Spectral properties of a metal–dielectric sensor structure

Numerical analysis of the spectral characteristics of a two-layer structure is performed in the processes of fabrication, measurement, and application of this structure as a sensor of the refractive index of the external medium. The effect of environmental conditions and parameters of the metal and dielectric layers on the sensor sensitivity is discussed. The results of model calculations are confirmed by experimental studies.     

Modeling of a triple reduced surface field silicon-on-insulator lateral double-diffused metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor with low on-state resistance

An analytical model for a novel triple reduced surface field(RESURF) silicon-on-insulator(SOI) lateral doublediffused metal–oxide–semiconductor(LDMOS) field effect transistor with n-type top(N-top) layer, which can obtain a low on-state resistance, is proposed in this paper. The analytical model for surface potential and electric field distributions of the novel triple RESURF SOI LDMOS is presented by solving the two-dimensional(2D) Poisson's equation, which can also be applied to single, double and conventional triple RESURF SOI structures. The breakdown voltage(BV) is formulized to quantify the breakdown characteristic. Besides, the optimal integrated charge of N-top layer(Q_(ntop)) is derived, which can give guidance for doping the N-top layer. All the analytical results are well verified by numerical simulation results,showing the validity of the presented model. Hence, the proposed model can be a good tool for the device designers to provide accurate first-order design schemes and physical insights into the high voltage triple RESURF SOI device with N-top layer.     

Properties of metal–insulator–metal waveguide loop reflector

A new type and easy-to-fabricate metal–insulator–metal(MIM) waveguide reflector based on Sagnac loop is designed and investigated.The transfer matrix theoretical model for the transmission of electric fields in the reflector is established,and the properties of the reflector are studied and analyzed.The simulation results indicate that the reflectivity strongly depends on the coupling splitting ratio determined by the coupling length.Accordingly, different reflectivities can be realized by varying the coupling length.For an optimum coupling length of 750 nm, the 3-dB reflection bandwidth of the MIM waveguide reflector is as wide as 1.5 μm at a wavelength of 1550 nm, and the peak reflectivity and isolation are 78%and 23 dB, respectively.     

Physics of metal–correlated barrier with disorder–metal heterostructure

A metal-disordered and correlated barrier–metal heterostructure is studied at half-filling using unrestricted Hartree Fock method. The corresponding clean system has been shown to be an insulator for any finite on site correlation. Interestingly we find that introduction of explicit disorder induces an inhomogeneous, plane dependent, modulated spin and charge order. There is a metal–insulator transition at a critical value of disorder. The critical value corresponds to the point at which disorder kills the gap at half filling due to onsite correlation and completely destroys the plane dependent antiferromagnetic order. The wavefunctions are found to delocalize by increasing disorder, thus rendering the system metallic.     

Effect of NO annealing on charge traps in oxide insulator and transition layer for 4H-SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor devices

The effect of nitric oxide(NO) annealing on charge traps in the oxide insulator and transition layer in n-type4H–Si C metal–oxide–semiconductor(MOS) devices has been investigated using the time-dependent bias stress(TDBS),capacitance–voltage(C–V),and secondary ion mass spectroscopy(SIMS).It is revealed that two main categories of charge traps,near interface oxide traps(Nniot) and oxide traps(Not),have different responses to the TDBS and C–V characteristics in NO-annealed and Ar-annealed samples.The Nniotare mainly responsible for the hysteresis occurring in the bidirectional C–V characteristics,which are very close to the semiconductor interface and can readily exchange charges with the inner semiconductor.However,Not is mainly responsible for the TDBS induced C–V shifts.Electrons tunneling into the Not are hardly released quickly when suffering TDBS,resulting in the problem of the threshold voltage stability.Compared with the Ar-annealed sample,Nniotcan be significantly suppressed by the NO annealing,but there is little improvement of Not.SIMS results demonstrate that the Nniotare distributed within the transition layer,which correlated with the existence of the excess silicon.During the NO annealing process,the excess Si atoms incorporate into nitrogen in the transition layer,allowing better relaxation of the interface strain and effectively reducing the width of the transition layer and the density of Nniot.     

Reactivation of damaged rare earth luminescence centers in ion-implanted metal–oxide–silicon light emitting devices

Charge trapping and quenching of electroluminescence (EL) in SiO₂ layers implanted by Ge and rare earth (RE) ions during hot electron injection were investigated. In case of the SiO₂:Ge layer the EL quenching is caused by the transformation of the luminescent defects (Ge–Si or Ge–Ge) to optically inactive centers during hot electron excitation, whereas the EL from rare earth centers is quenched due to the electron trapping by RE-centers or their surroundings, but not due to their optical deactivation. Therefore, the flash lamp post-injection annealing releasing trapped electrons reactivates RE centers and increases the operating time of metal–oxide–silicon light emitting devices (MOSLEDs). PACS 72.20.Jv; 73.40.Qv; 73.50.Gr     

Fabrication and characterization of the normally-off N-channel lateral 4H–SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors

In this paper, the normally-off N-channel lateral 4H–Si C metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors(MOSFFETs) have been fabricated and characterized. A sandwich-(nitridation–oxidation–nitridation) type process was used to grow the gate dielectric film to obtain high channel mobility. The interface properties of 4H–Si C/SiO_2 were examined by the measurement of HF I–V, G–V, and C–V over a range of frequencies. The ideal C–V curve with little hysteresis and the frequency dispersion were observed. As a result, the interface state density near the conduction band edge of 4H–Si C was reduced to 2 × 10~(11) e V~(-1)·cm~(-2), the breakdown field of the grown oxides was about 9.8 MV/cm, the median peak fieldeffect mobility is about 32.5 cm~2·V~(-1)·s~(-1), and the maximum peak field-effect mobility of 38 cm~2·V~(-1)·s~(-1) was achieved in fabricated lateral 4H–Si C MOSFFETs.