Electrical nanocharacterization of copper tetracyanoquinodimethane layers dedicated to resistive random access memories

Abstract

The local electrical properties of copper tetracyanoquinodimethane (CuTCNQ)/HfO2/Pt stacks were investigated thanks to conductive-atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. Local I-V and I-t spectroscopy evidenced repeatable and reversible bipolar electrical switching (SET and RESET operations) at the nanometer scale beneath the AFM tip. Experimental results suggest that resistive switching is due to the creation/dissolution of conductive filaments bridging the CuTCNQ surface to the AFM tip. A physical model based on the migration of Cu+ ions within a nanogap and the growth of a conductive filament shows an excellent agreement with the experimental results during SET operation achieved at nanoscale.