Gold (Au)-Doped Lead Sulfide-Polyvinyl Alcohol (PbS-PVA) Nanocomposites for High-Performance, Flexible Memristors

This study demonstrates flexible non-volatile resistive switching memory using gold (Au)-doped PbS-PVA nanocomposites deposited on patterned ITO-coated flexible PET substrate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study showed the presence of oxidation states of lead (Pb), sulphur (S) and gold (Au) ions in the nanocomposites. The fabricated Al/Au-PbS-PVA/ITO-coated flexible PET substrate device showed a bistable non-volatile flexible memristor and revealed superior behaviour in the current ratio (I-ON/I-O(FF)) of ON-state and OFF-state compared to the control device Al/PbS-PVA/ITO-coated flexible PET substrate due to the presence of Au nanoparticles in PbS-PVA composites. The incorporation of Au nanoparticles in PbSPVA nanocomposite increases charge carrier injection that further enhances the current ratio (I-ON/I-OFF) between the ON- and OFF-states of the device up to 10(6) with lower operating voltage at +/- 2V. The reversible resistance switching between OFF-state and ON-state was repeated for 100 cycles, and the two resistance states showed endurance and stability. Even after the applied bias was removed, the device maintained its OFF- and ON-states, showing bistable non-volatile memory. The fabricated flexible memristor was measured for retention, stability and flexibility by constantly bending the device from 70 degrees bending angle to 120 degrees bending angle and without bending (180 degrees). Interestingly, I-V characteristics after bending the device from 180 degrees to 70 degrees remained stable and unvariable. Therefore, the fabricated flexible memristor holds robust potential to be used in advanced flexible electronic applications. [GRAPHICS] .