The Effect of Growth Parameters on Electrophysical and Memristive Properties of Vanadium Oxide Thin Films

Abstract

We have experimentally studied the influence of pulsed laser deposition parameters on the morphological and electrophysical parameters of vanadium oxide films. It is shown that an increase in the number of laser pulses from 10,000 to 60,000 and an oxygen pressure from 3 × 10−4 Torr to 3 × 10−2 Torr makes it possible to form vanadium oxide films with a thickness from 22.3 ± 4.4 nm to 131.7 ± 14.4 nm, a surface roughness from 7.8 ± 1.1 nm to 37.1 ± 11.2 nm, electron concentration from (0.32 ± 0.07) × 1017 cm−3 to (42.64 ± 4.46) × 1017 cm−3, electron mobility from 0.25 ± 0.03 cm2/(V·s) to 7.12 ± 1.32 cm2/(V·s), and resistivity from 6.32 ± 2.21 Ω·cm to 723.74 ± 89.21 Ω·cm. The regimes at which vanadium oxide films with a thickness of 22.3 ± 4.4 nm, a roughness of 7.8 ± 1.1 nm, and a resistivity of 6.32 ± 2.21 Ω·cm are obtained for their potential use in the fabrication of ReRAM neuromorphic systems. It is shown that a 22.3 ± 4.4 nm thick vanadium oxide film has the bipolar effect of resistive switching. The resistance in the high state was (89.42 ± 32.37) × 106 Ω, the resistance in the low state was equal to (6.34 ± 2.34) × 103 Ω, and the ratio RHRS/RLRS was about 14,104. The results can be used in the manufacture of a new generation of micro- and nanoelectronics elements to create ReRAM of neuromorphic systems based on vanadium oxide thin films.