Forming compliance dominated memristive switching through interfacial reaction in Ti/TiO2/Au structure

The effects of the forming compliance current (CC) on bipolar resistive switching (BRS) characteristics in Au/Ti/TiO2/Au memristive switches were investigated. After forming with a low CC, a typical BRS with an abrupt SET and negative differential resistance RESET behaviors were observed. In comparison, the sample formed with a high CC exhibited an abnormal BRS with stepwise SET and abrupt RESET transitions. The conduction mechanisms at a high resistance state and a low resistance state were analyzed, respectively. The impact of the forming compliance on the interfacial reaction between Ti and TiO2 was discussed. The Ti-induced interfacial layer played an important role of manipulating the oxygen vacancies, thus providing the possibility of affecting the switching behavior. A physical model based on a combination of the bulk and interfacial effects was proposed to explain our observations.