Skip to main content
Log in

Formation of Schottky-type metal/SrTiO3 junctions and their resistive properties

  • Published:
Applied Physics A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Motivated by the successful use of strontium titanate with different doping metals for memory cells on the basis of resistive switching and the recent findings on the major importance of oxygen vacancy redistribution in this compound, the present work shows the possibility of a non-volatile resistance change memory based on vacancy-doped SrTiO3. The formation of corresponding metal/SrTiO3−δ junctions (δ>0) in an electric field will be discussed as well as the switching between ohmic and Schottky-type contact behavior. A notable hysteresis in the current–voltage characteristics is used to carry out Write, Read, and Erase operations exemplifying the memory cell properties of such junctions. But whereas the electric field-induced formation of Schottky-type junctions is explainable by oxygen vacancy redistribution, the resistive switching needs to be discussed in terms of vacancies serving as electron trap states at the metal/oxide interface.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. B.J. Choi, D.S. Jeong, S.K. Kim, C. Rohde, S. Choi, J.H. Oh, H.J. Kim, C.S. Hwang, K. Szot, R. Waser, B. Reichenberg, S. Tiedke, Resistive switching mechanism of TiO2 thin films grown by atomic-layer deposition. J. Appl. Phys. 98, 033715 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. A. Sawa, Resistive switching in transition metal oxides. Mater. Today 11, 28–36 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. K. Szot, W. Speier, G. Bihlmayer, R. Waser, Switching the electrical resistance of individual dislocations in single-crystalline SrTiO3. Nat. Mater. 5, 312–320 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. T. Fujii, M. Kawasaki, A. Sawa, H. Akoh, Y. Kawazoe, Y. Tokura, Hysteretic current–voltage characteristics and resistance switching at an epitaxial oxide Schottky junction SrRuO3/SrTi0.99Nb0.01O3. Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 012107 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. C. Park, Y. Seo, J. Jung, D.W. Kim, Electrode-dependent electrical properties of metal/Nb-doped SrTiO3 junctions. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 054106 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. A. Beck, J.G. Bednorz, C. Gerber, C. Rossel, D. Widmer, Reproducible switching effect in thin oxide films for memory applications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 139–141 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. S.Q. Liu, N.J. Wu, A. Ignatiev, Electric-pulse-induced reversible resistance change effect in magnetoresistive films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2749–2751 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. M. Hamaguchi, K. Aoyama, S. Asanuma, Y. Uesu, T. Katsufuji, Electric-field-induced resistance switching universally observed in transition-metal-oxide thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 142508 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. A. Baikalov, Y.Q. Wang, B. Shen, B. Lorenz, S. Tsui, Y.Y. Sun, Y.Y. Xue, C.W. Chu, Field-driven hysteretic and reversible resistive switch at the Ag-Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 interface. Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 957–959 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. S.H. Jeon, B.H. Park, J. Lee, B. Lee, S. Han, First-principles modeling of resistance switching in perovskite oxide material. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 042904 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. M. Janousch, G.I. Meijer, U. Staub, B. Delley, S.F. Karg, B.P. Andreasson, Role of oxygen vacancies in Cr-doped SrTiO3 for resistance-change memory. Adv. Mater. 19, 2232–2232 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. K. Szot, R. Dittmann, W. Speier, R. Waser, Nanoscale resistive switching in SrTiO3 thin films. Phys. Status Solidi (RRL) 1, R86–R88 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. S.F. Alvarado, F. La Mattina, J.G. Bednorz, Electroluminescence in SrTiO3:Cr single-crystal nonvolatile memory cells. Appl. Phys. A 89, 85–89 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Y. Watanabe, J.G. Bednorz, A. Bietsch, C. Gerber, D. Widmer, A. Beck, S.J. Wind, Current-driven insulator-conductor transition and nonvolatile memory in chromium-doped SrTiO3 single crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3738–3740 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. D.D. Cuong, B. Lee, K.M. Choi, H.-S. Ahn, S. Han, J. Lee, Oxygen vacancy clustering and electron localization in oxygen-deficient SrTiO3: LDA + U study. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 115503 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. J.H. Haeni, P. Irvin, W. Chang, R. Uecker, P. Reiche, Y.L. Li, S. Choudhury, W. Tian, M.E. Hawley, B. Craigo, A.K. Tagantsev, X.Q. Pan, S.K. Streiffer, L.Q. Chen, S.W. Kirchoefer, J. Levy, D.G. Schlom, Room-temperature ferroelectricity in strained SrTiO3. Nature 430, 758–761 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. M. Itoh, R. Wang, Y. Inaguma, T. Yamaguchi, Y.-J. Shan, T. Nakamura, Ferroelectricity induced by oxygen isotope exchange in strontium titanate perovskite. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3540–3543 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. N.A. Pertsev, A.K. Tagantsev, N. Setter, Phase transitions and strain-induced ferroelectricity in SrTiO3 epitaxial thin films. Phys. Rev. B 61, R825–R829 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. D. Choi, D. Lee, H. Sim, M. Chang, H. Hwang, Reversible resistive switching of SrTiO x thin films for nonvolatile memory applications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 082904 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. S. Karg, G.I. Meijer, D. Widmer, J.G. Bednorz, Electrical-stress-induced conductivity increase in SrTiO3 films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 072106 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. A. Inoue, K. Izumisawa, H. Uwe, Fabrication of Schottky Junction Between Au and SrTiO3. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 40, 3153–3156 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. M.C. Ni, S.M. Guo, H.F. Tian, Y.G. Zhao, J.Q. Li, Resistive switching effect in SrTiO3−δ /Nb-doped SrTiO3 heterojunction. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 183502 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. C. Park, D.-W. Kim, Interface resistance switching characteristics of metal/Nb-doped SrTiO3 junctions. J. Korean Phys. Soc. 50, 1294–1297 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. T. Shimizu, H. Okushi, Intrinsic electrical properties of Au/SrTiO3 Schottky junctions. J. Appl. Phys. 85, 7244–7251 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. J.R. Contreras, H. Kohlstedt, U. Poppe, R. Waser, C. Buchal, N.A. Pertsev, Resistive switching in metal–ferroelectric–metal junctions. Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 4595–4597 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. R. Oligschlaeger, R. Waser, R. Meyer, S. Karthäuser, R. Dittmann, Resistive switching and data reliability of epitaxial (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 042901 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. A. Sawa, T. Fujii, M. Kawasaki, Y. Tokura, Hysteretic current–voltage characteristics and resistance switching at a rectifying Ti/Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 interface. Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 4073–4075 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. S. Tsui, A. Baikalov, J. Cmaidalka, Y.Y. Sun, Y.Q. Wang, Y.Y. Xue, C.W. Chu, L. Chen, A.J. Jacobson, Field-induced resistive switching in metal-oxide interfaces. Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 317–319 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Q. Fu, T. Wagner, Interaction of nanostructured metal overlayers with oxide surfaces. Surf. Sci. Rep. 62, 431–498 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. J. Blanc, D.L. Staebler, Electrocoloration in SrTiO3: vacancy drift and oxidation–reduction of transition metals. Phys. Rev. B 4, 3548–3557 (1971)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. D.C. Meyer, A.A. Levin, S. Bayer, A. Gorbunov, W. Pompe, P. Paufler, An electrical field-induced structural effect in strontium titanate at room temperature. Appl. Phys. A 80, 515–522 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. M. Bobeth, N. Farag, A.A. Levin, D.C. Meyer, W. Pompe, A.E. Romanov, Reversible electric field-induced structure changes in the near-surface region of strontium titanate. J. Ceram. Soc. Jpn. 114, 1029–1037 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. D.C. Meyer, A.A. Levin, T. Leisegang, E. Gutmann, P. Paufler, M. Reibold, W. Pompe, Reversible tuning of a series of intergrowth phases of the Ruddlesden-Popper type SrO(SrTiO3) n in an (001) SrTiO3 single-crystalline plate by an external electric field and its potential use for adaptive X-ray optics. Appl. Phys. A 84, 31–35 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. H. Stöcker, M. Zschornak, T. Leisegang, I. Shakhverdova, S. Gemming, D.C. Meyer, Electric field mediated switching of mechanical properties of strontium titanate at room temperature. Cryst. Res. Technol. 45, 13–17 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. T. Leisegang, H. Stöcker, A.A. Levin, T. Weißbach, M. Zschornak, E. Gutmann, K. Rickers, S. Gemming, D.C. Meyer, Switching Ti valence in SrTiO3 by a dc electric field. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 087601 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. M. Mrovec, J.M. Albina, B. Meyer, C. Elsässer, Schottky barriers at transition-metal/SrTiO3 (001) interfaces. Phys. Rev. B 79, 245121 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. K. Szot, M. Pawelczyk, J. Herion, C. Freiburg, J. Albers, R. Waser, J. Hulliger, J. Kwapulinski, J. Dec, Nature of the surface layer in ABO3-type perovskites at elevated temperatures. Appl. Phys. A 62, 335–343 (1996)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. M.J. Rozenberg, I.H. Inoue, M.J. Sánchez, Nonvolatile memory with multilevel switching: a basic model. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 178302 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. C. Vamala, S. Manandhar, J. Kelber, Pt interactions with annealed and chemically-etched Nb-doped SrTiO3 (001) surfaces: Metal/oxide surface chemical effects on band bending behavior. Surf. Sci. 603, 33–39 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hartmut Stöcker.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stöcker, H., Zschornak, M., Seibt, J. et al. Formation of Schottky-type metal/SrTiO3 junctions and their resistive properties. Appl. Phys. A 100, 437–445 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-5848-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-5848-0

Keywords

Navigation