ZnO Single-Nanowire Schottky Barrier Resistive Switching Memory Assembly with Dielectrophoresis

Single nanowires and networks are considered promising candidate miniaturized memristive devices for brain-inspired systems. In this study, we prepared an Au/single ZnO nanowire/Au memristor by the in situ electric dielectrophoretic assembly method. The I–V curve indicates that the self-rectifying Au/ZnO nanowires form a back-to-back Schottky barrier. Further experiments have shown that the current of the device is controlled by the barrier enhancement layer generated during dielectrophoresis assembly. The device in a high-resistance state shows very low leakage current, with six orders of magnitude of resistance ratio between the conducting and insulating states and response time less than 20 ns. The recovery time constants for the device are 2.50 s, 10.59 s, 15.00 s and 23.35 s under a pulse width of 5 ms and pulse height of 3 V, 4 V, 5 V and 6 V.