Bistable resistive switching characteristics of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) thin film memory devices

The switching property of thin film memories with a sandwiched structure of Al/poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)/ITO has been demonstrated. In terms of bistable current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, the conduction mechanisms at low and high resistance states were characterized by an ohmic behavior and the space charge limit current dominated, respectively. The resistive switching behavior was explained by the presence of the carbon filaments, which was confirmed by observing the carbon ions diffusing in the PHEMA film in time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Our devices have high current on/off (>10³), reliable switching endurance over 500 write-read-erase-read cycles, and long retention time (>10⁴ s).