Electrically-controlled resistance and magnetoresistance in a SiO2-Co film

A SiO2-Co film with a Pt bottom electrode and an Au top electrode was deposited by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The sample exhibits bipolar resistive switching properties. Both oxygen vacancies and Co nanoparticles in the SiO2-Co film contribute to resistive switching properties and the formation of conducting filaments. The sample, at high and low resistance states, exhibits magnetoresistance at 300 K and 10 K, respectively; this may be due to spin-dependent tunneling between Co particles through the SiO2 barriers. Thus, the combination of resistive switching and magnetoresistance in a simple Pt/SiO2-Co/Au structure leads to the formation of multiple resistance states, which is promising for future applications of multiple-state non-volatile storage.