Resistive Memory Switching in Pulsed Laser Deposited YCrO3 Thin Films

The pulsed laser deposited polycrystalline YCrO₃ (YCO) thin films sandwiched between two Pt-electrodes have been investigated to explore unipolar resistive switching phenomenon. As fabricated Pt/YCO/Pt structure showed a stable resistance ratio (R_ratio) of four orders of magnitude (at 0.2 V readout bias) between low resistance state (LRS) and high resistance state (HRS) and non-overlapping switching voltages in the range of 0.75- 1 V and 3.4- 4.5 V, respectively. Moreover, cyclic endurance up to 50 set/reset cycles and data retention up to 10³ seconds were presented to confirm the reliability of the Pt/YCO/Pt structure. The current conduction mechanisms of the device for low and high resistance states are dominated by Ohmic behavior and trap controlled space–charge limited current, respectively. The resistance switching between HRS and LRS was ascribed to formation/rupture of conductive filaments. This work provides the promising multifunctional oxide material for non-volatile memory applications.