On the physical origins of switching diversity in Cu-embedded SiOx memristive devices
Abstract
Resistive switching devices with sub-stoichiometric SiOx and pancake-like Cu nanoparticles (Cu-PCs) exhibit distinct macroscopic current-voltage characteristics classified as capacitive or gradual (interface-type switching) and abrupt or resistive (filamentary-type switching), motivating an analysis of the microscopic processes underlying this diversity. It is proposed that the device defect landscape is largely shaped by two charged defect types, mobile oxygen vacancies and immobile Cu-related defects, whose distributions jointly govern interfacial and bulk transport. An effective one-dimensional cloud-in-a-cell simulation framework is employed to reproduce the phenomenological picture of both interface-type and filamentary-type switching by incorporating the dominant coupled ionic and electronic processes underlying these mechanisms. The model includes oxygen-vacancy drift-diffusion, Schottky-limited injection at the metal/oxide interfaces, and bulk trap-assisted transport via Poole-Frenkel conduction, with Cu-PCs near the top interface treated effectively. A simulation-based parametric study varying voltage stress, sweep rate, and oxide thickness is used to examine how these factors rebalance voltage partitioning and the spatiotemporal electric field distribution, thereby altering vacancy redistribution and the relative contributions of interface- and bulk-limited conduction. Using representative, physically motivated parameter sets informed by prior device-level studies, the simulations accurately reproduce the characteristic I-V signatures of seven different experimentally observed switching responses. Overall, the findings help to link microscopic defect landscapes and transport processes to experimentally measured macroscopic responses within a single, self-consistent modeling framework.
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BibTeX
@misc{yarragolla2026physical,
title = {{On the physical origins of switching diversity in Cu-embedded SiO$_x$ memristive devices}},
author = {Sahitya Yarragolla and Rouven Lamprecht and Tobias Gergs and Ole Gronenberg and Hermann Kohlstedt and Thomas Mussenbrock and Jan Trieschmann},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.10799},
eprint = {2609.10799},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10799},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - On the physical origins of switching diversity in Cu-embedded SiO_x memristive devices
AU - Sahitya Yarragolla
AU - Rouven Lamprecht
AU - Tobias Gergs
AU - Ole Gronenberg
AU - Hermann Kohlstedt
AU - Thomas Mussenbrock
AU - Jan Trieschmann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.10799
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10799
AB - Resistive switching devices with sub-stoichiometric SiO_x and pancake-like Cu nanoparticles (Cu-PCs) exhibit distinct macroscopic current-voltage characteristics classified as capacitive or gradual (interface-type switching) and abrupt or resistive (filamentary-type switching), motivating an analysis of the microscopic processes underlying this diversity. It is proposed that the device defect landscape is largely shaped by two charged defect types, mobile oxygen vacancies and immobile Cu-related defects, whose distributions jointly govern interfacial and bulk transport. An effective one-dimensional cloud-in-a-cell simulation framework is employed to reproduce the phenomenological picture of both interface-type and filamentary-type switching by incorporating the dominant coupled ionic and electronic processes underlying these mechanisms. The model includes oxygen-vacancy drift-diffusion, Schottky-limited injection at the metal/oxide interfaces, and bulk trap-assisted transport via Poole-Frenkel conduction, with Cu-PCs near the top interface treated effectively. A simulation-based parametric study varying voltage stress, sweep rate, and oxide thickness is used to examine how these factors rebalance voltage partitioning and the spatiotemporal electric field distribution, thereby altering vacancy redistribution and the relative contributions of interface- and bulk-limited conduction. Using representative, physically motivated parameter sets informed by prior device-level studies, the simulations accurately reproduce the characteristic I-V signatures of seven different experimentally observed switching responses. Overall, the findings help to link microscopic defect landscapes and transport processes to experimentally measured macroscopic responses within a single, self-consistent modeling framework.
ER -