Resistive hysteresis in BiFeO3 thin films

Capacitor-like Au/BiFeO3/SrRuO3 thin film with (1 1 1) orientation was grown on the SrTiO3 (1 1 1) substrate by radio frequency magnetic sputtering. It shows a resistive switching behavior, where a stable hysteresis in current–voltage curve was well developed by applying an optimum voltage at room temperature, and it reached the saturation at a bias voltage of 8 V. The Child's law in Vmax → 0 direction and the interface-limited Fowler–Nordheim tunneling in 0 → Vmax direction, together with the polarization reversal in the BiFeO3 barrier, are shown to involve in the observed resistive hysteresis.

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► Leakage mechanism is used to investigate the origin of resistive hysteresis in BiFeO3.
► Child's law and interface-limited F-N tunneling are responsible for resistive hysteresis.
► BiFeO3 thin film is a promising candidate material for RRAM.