Resistive switching mechanism in delafossite-transition metal oxide (CuInO2-CuO) bilayer structure

This study reports reversible and unipolar resistive switching in oxide bilayer structure due to the conversion of rectifying CuInO2-CuO semiconductor heterojunction to metal-semiconductor CuInO2-Cu Ohmic contact. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and conducting atomic force microscopy studies establish that switching occurs due to formation of conducting Cu filaments in CuO layer with CuInO2 layer remaining unaffected. The bilayer structure, with CuO layer acting as the switching element and CuInO2 layer as the resistance controlling element, exhibits improved switching parameters in comparison to single CuO layer. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3369436]