A study of copper oxide based resistive switching memory by conductive atom force microscope

A copper oxide (CuxO) layer was formed by applying plasma oxidization on a copper film grown on a Si substrate. Pt deposited on this CuxO layer then function as the top electrode to form a Pt/CuxO/Cu structure. A device created with this structure exhibited a forming-free bipolar resistive switching property. Conductive atom force microscope (C-AFM) was employed to investigate the nanoscale electrical properties of the device. Based on I–V curve analysis, it was found that the Poole–Frankel and conducting filaments models were suitable for the present device. C-AFM analysis for the sample indicated that the random formation/rupture of conducting paths in the CuxO layer may play a key role for the device instability in high resistance state.