Engineering oxide resistive switching materials for memristive device application

Based on a unified physical model and first-principle calculations, a material-oriented methodology has been proposed to control the bipolar switching behavior of an oxide-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) cell. According to the material-oriented methodology, the oxide-based RRAM cell can be designed by material engineering to achieve the required device performance. In this article, a Gd-doped HfO₂ RRAM cell with excellent bipolar switching characteristics is developed to meet the requirements of memristive device application. The typical memristive characteristics of the Gd-doped HfO₂ RRAM cell are presented, and the mechanism is discussed.     

Impacts of compressive strain on phase diagram of epitaxial Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 films grown on LaAlO3 (0 0 1)

Series Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (PSMO) films of thickness ranging from 20 to 400 nm were epitaxially grown on (0 0 1)-oriented LaAlO₃ using pulsed laser deposition method. The biaxial compressive strain effect on phase transition of the films was systematically investigated by both electrical and magnetic measurements. The 60 nm film shows a ferromagnetic metal to antiferromagnetic insulator (FMM-AFI) transition at a temperature of ∼190 K. Such a FMM-AFI transition is depressed as the films become thicker, and finally disappears in the strain-relaxed situation. On the other hand, the Curie temperature is remarkably enhanced (∼50 °C) when the film thickness increases from 60 to 400 nm. These results may yield the possibility to modulate the phase transitions by varying the structural strain.     

Influence of epitaxial growth on phase competition in Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 films

A series of Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (PSMO) films with various thickness were epitaxially grown on substrates of (0 0 1)-oriented (LaAlO₃)_0.3(SrAl_0.5Ta_0.5O₃)_0.7 (LSAT), LaAlO₃ (LAO) and SrTiO₃ (STO), and (0 1 1)-oriented STO using pulse laser deposition. Influence of epitaxial growth on phase competition was investigated. A ferromagnetic metal to antiferromagnetic insulator (FMM-AFI) transition upon cooling is present in both largely compressed situations deposited on LAO (0 0 1) and tensile cases deposited on STO (0 0 1) but absent in little strained films grown on LSAT (0 0 1), indicating that the antiferromagnetic insulating state is favored by strains. On the other hand, the 400 nm films deposited on (0 1 1)-oriented STO as well as LAO substrates show FMM-AFI transition. These results reveal that both the orientation of epitaxial growth and substrate-induced strain affect the FMM-AFI transition.     

Magnetic Anisotropy Induced by Orbital Occupation States in La_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_3 Films

Interface engineering is an effective and feasible method to regulate the magnetic anisotropy of films by altering interfacial states between films.Using the technique of pulsed laser deposition,we prepared La_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_3(LSMO) and La_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_3/SrCoO_(2.5)(LSMO/SCO) films on(110)-oriented La_(0.3)Sr_(0.7)Al_(0.65)Ta_(0.35)O_3 substrates.By covering the SCO film above the LSMO film,we transformed the easy magnetization axis of LSMO from the [001] axis to the [110] axis in the film plane.Based on statistical analyses,we find that the corresponding Mn-Mn ionic distances are different in the two types of LSMO films,causing different distortions of Mn-O octahedron in LSMO.In addition,it also induces diverse electronic occupation states in Mn~(3+) ions.The eg electron of Mn~(3+)occupies 3 z~2-r~2 and x~2-y~2 orbitals in the LSMO and LSMO/SCO,respectively.We conclude that the electronic spin reorientation leads to the transformation of the easy magnetization axis in the LSMO films.