Resistive Switching in $\hbox{HfO}_{2}$ Probed by a Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Bipolar Transistor

Abstract

Resistive switching in thin HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> films is studied using a metal-insulator-semiconductor bipolar transistor structure. Using this structure, electron injection into the semiconductor valence band can be distinguished from injection into the conduction band. In addition, the p-n junction serves as a sensitive detector of damage induced by the switching effect. The implications of the obtained experimental results on the validity of various conduction mechanisms through the insulator are discussed.