TY - JOUR
T1 - Bipolar Cu/HfO2/p++ Si Memristors by Sol-Gel Spin Coating Method and Their Application to Environmental Sensing
AU - Abdul Hadi, Sabina
AU - Humood, Khaled M.
AU - Abi Jaoude, Maguy
AU - Abunahla, Heba
AU - Shehhi, Hamda Faisal Al
AU - Mohammad, Baker
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is funded by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency, Space Missions Science and Technology Directorate, project reference K08-2016-001. The proposed project is in line with United Arab Emirates Space Agency’s Space Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Roadmap aimed at developing enabling technologies for Space exploration, which is intended to accomplish the objectives of the UAE Space strategy. This publication is also supported by Khalifa University of Science and Technology under Award No. [RC2-2018-020]. The authors also acknowledge the access to KSRC-lab and the KU-Core Nano-Characterization and Micro-Fabrication facilities for conducting the electrical and physical testing. Special thanks are due to Prof. Anas AlAzzam for providing us with access to his clean room fabrication facility, as well as to the Department of Nuclear Engineering for providing us with the gamma-ray sources.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - In this paper, the memristive switching behavior of Cu/ HfO2/p++ Si devices fabricated by an organic-polymer-assisted sol-gel spin-coating method, coupled with post-annealing and shadow-mask metal sputtering steps, is examined. HfO2 layers of about 190 nm and 80 nm, are established using cost-effective spin-coating method, at deposition speeds of 2000 and 4000 rotations per minute (RPM), respectively. For two types of devices, the memristive characteristics (Von, Ion, and Vreset) and device-to-device electrical repeatability are primarily discussed in correlation with the oxide layer uniformity and thickness. The devices presented in this work exhibit an electroforming free and bipolar memory-resistive switching behavior that is typical of an Electrochemical Metallization (ECM) I-V fingerprint. The sample devices deposited at 4000 RPM generally show less variation in electrical performance parameters compared to those prepared at halved spin-coating speed. Typically, the samples prepared at 4000 RPM (n = 8) display a mean switching voltage Von of 3.0 V (±0.3) and mean reset voltage Vreset of −1.1 V (±0.5) over 50 consecutive sweep cycles. These devices exhibit a large Roff/Ron window (up to 104), and sufficient electrical endurance and retention properties to be further examined for radiation sensing. As they exhibit less statistical uncertainty compared to the samples fabricated at 2000 RPM, the devices prepared at 4000 RPM are tested for the detection of soft gamma rays (emitted from low-activity Cs-137 and Am-241 radioactive sources), by assessing the variation in the on-state resistance value upon exposure. The analysis of the probability distributions of the logarithmic Ron values measured over repeated ON-OFF cycles, before, during and after exposing the devices to radiation, demonstrate a statistical difference. These results pave the way for the fabrication and development of cost-effective soft-gamma ray detectors.
AB - In this paper, the memristive switching behavior of Cu/ HfO2/p++ Si devices fabricated by an organic-polymer-assisted sol-gel spin-coating method, coupled with post-annealing and shadow-mask metal sputtering steps, is examined. HfO2 layers of about 190 nm and 80 nm, are established using cost-effective spin-coating method, at deposition speeds of 2000 and 4000 rotations per minute (RPM), respectively. For two types of devices, the memristive characteristics (Von, Ion, and Vreset) and device-to-device electrical repeatability are primarily discussed in correlation with the oxide layer uniformity and thickness. The devices presented in this work exhibit an electroforming free and bipolar memory-resistive switching behavior that is typical of an Electrochemical Metallization (ECM) I-V fingerprint. The sample devices deposited at 4000 RPM generally show less variation in electrical performance parameters compared to those prepared at halved spin-coating speed. Typically, the samples prepared at 4000 RPM (n = 8) display a mean switching voltage Von of 3.0 V (±0.3) and mean reset voltage Vreset of −1.1 V (±0.5) over 50 consecutive sweep cycles. These devices exhibit a large Roff/Ron window (up to 104), and sufficient electrical endurance and retention properties to be further examined for radiation sensing. As they exhibit less statistical uncertainty compared to the samples fabricated at 2000 RPM, the devices prepared at 4000 RPM are tested for the detection of soft gamma rays (emitted from low-activity Cs-137 and Am-241 radioactive sources), by assessing the variation in the on-state resistance value upon exposure. The analysis of the probability distributions of the logarithmic Ron values measured over repeated ON-OFF cycles, before, during and after exposing the devices to radiation, demonstrate a statistical difference. These results pave the way for the fabrication and development of cost-effective soft-gamma ray detectors.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068892721&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-46443-x
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-46443-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 31292515
AN - SCOPUS:85068892721
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 9
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 9983
ER -