Cyclic electric field stress on bipolar resistive switching devices

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 2013-12, Vol.114 (24)
• Main Authors: Schulman, A, Acha, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amplitudes; Applied physics; COPPER OXIDE; Electric fields; Electric potential; ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY; Fatigue tests; Gold; MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS; Mechanical tests; Platinum; Pulse propagation; STRESS; Stress propagation; Stresses; SUPERCONDUCTORS; Switching; VOLTAGE; YBCO superconductors; YTTRIUM OXIDE
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4859475

We have studied the effects of accumulating cyclic electrical pulses of increasing amplitude on the non-volatile resistance state of interfaces made by sputtering a metal (Au, Pt) on top of the surface of a cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O7–δ. We have analyzed the influence of the number of applied pulses N on the relative amplitude of the remnant resistance change between the high (RH) and the low (RL) state [(α=(RH−RL)/RL] at different temperatures (T). We show that the critical voltage (Vc) needed to produce a resistive switching (RS, i.e., α>0) decreases with increasing N or T. We also find a power law relation between the voltage of the pulses and the number of pulses Nα0 required to produce a RS of α=α0. This relation remains very similar to the Basquin equation used to describe the stress-fatigue lifetime curves in mechanical tests. This points out to the similarity between the physics of the RS, associated with the diffusion of oxygen vacancies induced by electrical pulses, and the propagation of defects in materials subjected to repeated mechanical stress.