Electrical conduction mechanisms of Au/NiO/heavily doped p-type Si memory devices

The fabrication of memory devices based on the Au/NiO/heavily doped p-type Si (p⁺-Si) structures and their current-voltage characteristics were reported. The Au/NiO/p⁺-Si devices show hysteresis behavior. The fitting data of the temperature-dependent off-state current-voltage curves demonstrated that the carrier transport mechanism of the Au/NiO/p⁺-Si device was attributed to the space change limited conduction. However, the difference between the temperature-dependent on-state currents in the forward-bias and reverse-bias regions was found. The different electrical conduction mechanisms (hopping conduction and Ohmic conduction with metal-like behaviors) were discussed. This phenomenon is related to the different interfacial characteristics between Au/NiO and NiO/p⁺-Si.