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Improvement of capacitive and resistive memory in WO3 thin film with annealing

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Abstract

In this study, electron beam evaporated tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film (TF) has been investigated for both capacitive and resistive switching memory devices. The fabricated samples underwent annealing at a temperature of 500 °C. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) and conductance–voltage were found to decrease with the increase in frequency for both the as-depo and annealed Au/WO3 TF/Si devices. The decrease in the interface trap density (Dit) from 1.27 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2 (as-depo WO3 TF) to 1.81 × 1010 eV−1 cm−2 (annealed WO3 TF) was attributed to the reduced number of defects. A large memory window of 9.76 V at ± 10 V was exhibited for annealed WO3 TF in the C–V hysteresis loop. A stable high resistance state and low resistance state were obtained for the annealed device up to 105 s without any distinct deterioration. The effects of crystallization are comprehensively explored to explicate the alteration in the resistive switching characteristics and its fundamental mechanism. The observed alterations in resistive switching behavior have been attributed to the processes of charge-trapping de-trapping and the migration of oxygen vacancies within the film. Our work offers insights into the charge-trapping mechanisms in WO3 TF-based nonvolatile memory devices, highlighting the impact of annealing on their performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Project No: GRANT 5,239]. The authors extend their heartfelt appreciation to National Institute of Technology Durgapur, India, for granting access to the FEGSEM facility, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat-6, Assam, India for XPS and to National Institute of Technology Nagaland, India for their support in XRD characterization and financial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Manipur, Imphal, 795002, India

    Rajshree Rajkumari

  2. Department of Physics, College of Science, King Faisal University, 31982, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

    Mir Waqas Alam & Basma Souayeh

  3. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Nagaland, Chumukedima, Dimapur, Nagaland, 797103, India

    Naorem Khelchand Singh

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  1. Rajshree Rajkumari
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Contributions

RR contributed to data curation, investigation, conceptualization, fabrication, formal analysis, validation, writing—original draft, visualization. MWA contributed to conceptualization, validation, resources, formal analysis, and project administration. BS contributed to validation, resources, formal analysis. NKS contributed to conceptualization, data curation, supervision, writing—review & editing, validation, visualization.

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Correspondence to Mir Waqas Alam or Naorem Khelchand Singh.

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Rajkumari, R., Alam, M.W., Souayeh, B. et al. Improvement of capacitive and resistive memory in WO3 thin film with annealing. J Mater Sci 59, 3270–3283 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09422-w

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