Flexible Memory Device Composed of Metal-Oxide and Two-Dimensional Material (SnO2/WTe2) Exhibiting Stable Resistive Switching

Abstract

Two-terminal, non-volatile memory devices are the fundamental building blocks of memory-storage devices to store the required information, but their lack of flexibility limits their potential for biological applications. After the discovery of two-dimensional (2D) materials, flexible memory devices are easy to build, because of their flexible nature. Here, we report on our flexible resistive-switching devices, composed of a bilayer tin-oxide/tungsten-ditelluride (SnO₂/WTe₂) heterostructure sandwiched between Ag (top) and Au (bottom) metal electrodes over a flexible PET substrate. The Ag/SnO₂/WTe₂/Au flexible devices exhibited highly stable resistive switching along with an excellent retention time. Triggering the device from a high-resistance state (HRS) to a low-resistance state (LRS) is attributed to Ag filament formation because of its diffusion. The conductive filament begins its development from the anode to the cathode, contrary to the formal electrochemical metallization theory. The bilayer structure of SnO₂/WTe₂ improved the endurance of the devices and reduced the switching voltage by up to 0.2 V compared to the single SnO₂ stacked devices. These flexible and low-power-consumption features may lead to the construction of a wearable memory device for data-storage purposes.