Effects of moisture barriers on resistive switching in Pt-dispersed SiO2 nanometallic thin films

Moisture invasion into memory devices can result in data loss and malfunctions in write/erase switching. Deteriorated uniformity and retention characteristics, and distorted switching hysteresis loops, are observed in moisture-attacked Pt-dispersed SiO₂ nanometallic thin-film devices, and can be effectively prevented by coating the device with a nanoscale Al₂O₃ barrier layer grown by an atomic layer deposition method. The moisture-attacked devices exhibit evidence of cumulating ion current and ion potential with repeated switching. In contrast, a capped device with an extremely uniform and reproducible resistive switching behavior features a completely symmetric current–voltage curve expected for a purely electronic device.