Effect of bottom electrode materials on resistive switching of flexible poly(N-vinylcarbazole) film embedded with TiO2 nanoparticles

Flexible resistive random access memory devices based on polymer films embedded with nanoparticles have attracted great attention. The electrode has been considered to play a key role in affecting switching performance, making its elucidation a vital issue. In the present study, the effect of various electrode materials, such as Ag, Al, Cu, indium tin oxide and Au on the resistive switching of a poly(N-vinylcarbazole) film embedded with TiO2 nanoparticles spin-coated on flexible substrate was investigated. Switching was found to depend on the interface between the electrode and functional layer. Using numerical simulations based on finite element analyses, it was demonstrated that the delamination at the electrode/active-layer interface limits the formation of conduction paths. The present results well-explains the reason of the conduction mechanism transition observed for samples with Au or Cu electrodes before and after bending, which may provide useful information for the electrode-dependent switching performance in future flexible resistive random access memory devices.