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Nanoscale resistive switching in SrTiO 3 thin films
Author(s) -
Szot K.,
Dittmann R.,
Speier W.,
Waser R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.200701003
Subject(s) - nanoscopic scale , materials science , resistive touchscreen , thin film , conductivity , thermal conduction , nanotechnology , electrical resistivity and conductivity , atomic force microscopy , electrode , conductive atomic force microscopy , epitaxy , optoelectronics , insulator (electricity) , scanning probe microscopy , condensed matter physics , composite material , chemistry , electrical engineering , physics , layer (electronics) , engineering
The local conductivity of SrTiO 3 thin films epitaxially grown on SrRuO 3 ‐buffered SrTiO 3 single crystals has been investigated in detail with an atomic force microscope equipped with a conducting tip (LC‐AFM). These experiments demonstrate that the conductivity of SrTiO 3 thin films originates from nanoscale well‐conducting filaments connecting the surface to the SrRuO 3 bottom electrode. The electrical conduction of the filaments is shown to be reversibly modulated over several orders of magnitude by application of an appropriate electrical field. We analyze the resistive switching by addressing individual filaments with the AFM tip as well as by scanning areas up to the µm scale. Temperature dependent measurements reveal that resistive switching on a macroscopic scale can be traced down to the insulator‐to‐metal transition of the independently switchable filaments. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)