Thermally induced crystallization in NbO thin films.

Niobium dioxide can exhibit negative differential resistance (NDR) in metal-insulator-metal (MIM) devices, which has recently attracted significant interest for its potential applications as a highly non-linear selector element in emerging nonvolatile memory (NVM) and as a locally-active element in neuromorphic circuits. In order to further understand the processing of this material system, we studied the effect of thermal annealing on a 15 nm thick NbO thin film sandwiched inside a nanoscale MIM device and compared it with 180 nm thick blanket NbO (x = 2 and 2.5) films deposited on a silicon dioxide surface as references.

Reflectometry-Ellipsometry Reveals Thickness, Growth Rate, and Phase Composition in Oxidation of Copper.

The oxidation of copper is a complicated process. Copper oxide develops two stable phases at room temperature and standard pressure (RTSP): cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and cupric oxide (CuO). Both phases have different optical and electrical characteristics that make them interesting for applications such as solar cells or resistive switching devices.

Trilayer Tunnel Selectors for Memristor Memory Cells.

An integrated memory cell with a mem-ristor and a trilayer crested barrier selector, showing repeatable nonlinear current-voltage switching loops is presented. The fully atomic-layer-deposited TaN1+x /Ta2 O5 /TaN1+x crested barrier selector yields a large nonlinearity (>10(4) ), high endurance (>10(8) ), low variability, and low temperature dependence.