Enhanced switching ratio of sol–gel-processed Y2O3 RRAM device by suppressing oxygen vacancy formation at high annealing temperatures

Abstract Sol–gel-processed Y 2 O 3 films were used as an active-channel layer for resistive switching memory (RRAM) devices. The influence of post-annealing temperature on structural, chemical, and electrical properties was studied. Y 2 O 3 -RRAM devices comprising electrochemically active metal electrodes, Ag, and indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes exhibited the conventional bipolar RRAM device operation. The fabricated Ag/Y 2 O 3 /ITO RRAM devices, which included 500 °C-annealed Y 2 O 3 films, exhibited less oxygen vacancy and defect sites, reduced the leakage current, increased the high-/low-resistance state ratio of more than 10 5 , and provided excellent nonvolatile memory properties without significant deterioration for 100 cycles and 10 4 s.