3 and 182.08 eV, as shown in Figure 2c. This doublet corresponds to Zr 3d3/2 and Zr 3d5/2, respectively [18], as the final states of ZrO2. Furthermore, the weak bands at about 181.7 eV

assigned to Zr 3d3/2 and 180.8 eV assigned to Zr 3d5/2 seem to be consistent with the states of ZrO y (0 < y < 2, 181.6 eV) [19], which also provide an evidence of the formation of a ZrO y interfacial layer. Final states of the metallic Zr (3d) are evidenced by the weakest band at 181.2 eV for Zr 3d3/2 and 179.5 eV Evofosfamide research buy for Zr 3d5/2. Figure 2d displays the O 1 s XPS spectra of the Zr/CeO x /Pt device consisting of peaks at binding energies 529.05, 530.09, and 531.47 eV, which can be attributed to the absorbed oxygen [20], lattice oxygen in CeO2[21], and oxygen vacancies

[22], respectively. The O 1 s peak is broad due to the nonequivalence of surface O2– ions. In addition to the oxygen vacancies, the preexisting oxygen ions in the Zr/CeO x /Pt device can also be verified from the spectra. The presence of more than one peak in the O 1 s spectra may have buy Staurosporine resulted from the overlapping of oxygen from surface defects (the selleck kinase inhibitor Nonlattice oxygen ions), CeO x , and Zr-O-Ce components as evident from the deconvoluted curves. The deconvoluted peaks detected at 529.2 to 529.9 and 531.47 eV are ascribed to the lattice oxygen and surface defects, respectively. Nonlattice oxygen ions may exist in the grain boundaries and can move with the help of bias voltage. Interaction between the movable oxygen vacancies and oxygen ions in the presence of an external electric field can play an important role in the RS process [23, 24]. Based on the Phosphatidylinositol diacylglycerol-lyase above results, a highly stable and forming-free bipolar resistive switching model can be proposed as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 Schematic of oxygen vacancy-formed multiconducting filaments depicting the switching process in Zr / CeO x / Pt device. (a) Initial, (b) reset, and (c) set states. Note that unfilled (filled) circles represent oxygen vacancies (ions) in the CeO x films. Figure 4a

depicts I-V bipolar switching characteristics of the Zr/CeO x /Pt device having a CeO x film thickness of 25 nm under DC sweeping at room temperature. Application of positive DC sweeping voltage gradually activates the device, initially forming a conductive path; this process is known as ‘electroforming’ and is similar to defect-induced dielectric soft breakdown. Current gradually increases at the forming voltage (approximately 4 V), and the device is shifted from a high-resistance state (HRS) to a low-resistance state (LRS). At the negative bias of approximately -1.0 V, the current drops abruptly to switch the device from LRS to HRS, known as the reset process. The device returns again to LRS when positive bias exceeds the set voltage (V on ~ 2.0 V), and a compliance current of 10 mA is applied to prevent the device from permanent breakdown.