Perovskite RRAM devices with metal/insulator/PCMO/metal heterostructures

Perovskite non-volatile resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices with metal/insulator/Pr_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ (PCMO)/metal thin film heterostructures have been fabricated and characterized as to performance. The insulator layer was grown as a buffer layer between the active CMR perovskite and the top metal contact. For these buffer layer heterostructure devices, the pulse voltage needed to switch the device is significantly reduced and the resistance-switching ratio is increased as compared to a non-buffered RRAM device. Low temperature magnetic field measurements indicate that the PCMO is the principal material in defining the resistive switching properties of the device. However, the insulating buffer layers used were oxygen ion conductors, and the resultant improvement of switching properties due to the buffer layers may indicate a mechanism where oxygen ions or oxygen vacancies are playing a role