Electrical bistability of CdS nanoparticles sandwiched between aluminum tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) layers

We report the electrical bistability of cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles (NPs) capped by dodecanethiol, which are sandwiched between aluminum tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) (Alq3) layers. The current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of the device with Al/Alq3/CdS NPs/Alq3/Al structures show the high- and low-conducting state at the same voltage, and the two states are reproducible by applying different negative sweeping voltages. The Ohmic model and the space-charge limited model are proposed and supported by the current density-voltage results, which give a possible transport mechanism for the electrical bistability of our devices.