Glancing angle fabricated Au/ZrO₂ nanoparticles based device for non‑volatile capacitive memory application

The effect of structural modulations on non-volatile capacitive memory devices is reported in this paper. The synthesis of zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) thin film (TF) was done using an electron beam evaporation technique. The glancing angle deposition (GLAD) was used to create ZrO₂ nanoparticles (NP) inside an electron beam evaporator. The formation of ZrO₂ TF and ZrO₂ NP over the silicon (Si) substrate is perceptible using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The incorporation of ZrO₂ NP leads to an increase in absorptions (ultra-violet/UV: 5.4 fold and visible: 7.2 fold) and a decrease in corresponding bandgaps due to the oxygen-related vacancies. Gold (Au) electrodes were deposited to fabricate the two distinct devices viz., Au/ZrO₂ TF and Au/ZrO₂ NP. The modulation in leakage current \(\left({I}_{l}\right)\) $\left(I_l\right)$ of 0.28 × 10⁻¹ A at + 5.2 V, an increment of frequency dispersion \(\left({f}_{d}\right)\) $\left(f_d\right)$ of 1.6 nF, a maximum conductance \(\left({G}_{mmax}\right)\) $\left(G_{\mathit{mmax}}\right)$ value of 7.9 µS, and a higher interface trap state density \(\left({D}_{it}\right)\) $\left(D_{\mathit{it}}\right)$ value of 56.30 × 10¹² cm^‒1 eV^‒1 was attributed the addition of oxygen vacancy related defect states in the Au/ZrO₂ NP than the Au/ZrO₂ TF based devices. The Au/ZrO₂ NP based device shows a high capacitive memory window of 3.53 V at ± 8 V, higher charge storage capability, good endurance as well as good retention properties due to the efficient charge trapping phenomenon. All findings establish a superior and scalable platform for next‒generation non‒volatile memory applications.