Nonvolatile switchable resistive behaviour via organic–inorganic hybrid interactions

Organic–inorganic hybrid material, aniline-functionalized bismuth oxide nanoparticles, has been synthesized using a two-step wet-chemical synthesis method and characterized by different optical, microscopy and surface analysis techniques. The material was applied as an active device component to demonstrate the electrical property of the device. The device exhibited a nonvolatile, resistive switching performance with a constant ON–OFF current ratio. The nonvolatile behaviour was confirmed by applying a 6 V of read pulse for 0.1 s after every 60 s with the duty-cycle of 0.16% for 2 × 103 s. To check the endurance of ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ states of the system, a bias of 6 V (read pulse) was applied to the device for 0.2 s with a duty-cycle of 50% for 103 cycles and the device showed the potential for storing and processing the data in a binary approach and differentiate between the ON and OFF states with the ratio of ~ 102. The current–voltage characteristics of the device in both the ON and OFF states are fitted with the Poole–Frenkel emission.