Targeted doping-induced modulation of conductive filaments in ZnO films for digital-to-analog resistive switching
摘要
We present the fabrication and analysis of analog memristors based on Cu-doped wurtzite ZnO thin films deposited via stencil-assisted sputtering. Structural and morphological characterizations confirm uniform Cu incorporation without compromising film quality. Cr/ZnO/Cr and Cr/ZnO:Cu/Cr devices both show stable resistive switching. I–V fitting reveals that undoped ZnO switches via conductive filaments under space charge–limited current, while Cu doping introduces deep traps that activate Poole–Frenkel conduction. This transition enables tunable, multilevel analog switching. Additionally, oxygen vacancies generated under high bias expand the ON/OFF ratio and lower the SET voltage. These results highlight the potential of low-cost, doped oxides for neuromorphic computing.