Bistable electrical switching and nonvolatile memory effect in mixed composite of oxadiazole acceptor and carbazole donor

•The ITO/PBD:PVK/Al sandwiched devices exhibited rewriteable flash memory property.•The active layer were prepared from the mixed compositions of PBD and PVK.•The memory devices can operate over a small voltage range.•The ON/OFF state current switches in the range of 104–102.

Bistable electrical switching and nonvolatile memory devices with the configuration of indium tin oxide (ITO)/active layer/aluminum (Al) are reported. The active layer were prepared from the mixed compositions of 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5-(4-biphenylyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole, (PBD) and poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK). The as-fabricated ITO/PBD:PVK/Al sandwiched devices exhibited rewriteable flash memory property. Due to the strong interaction between oxadiazole acceptor and carbazole donor, the devices demonstrate excellent performance. The memory devices can operate over a small voltage range, the absolute value of switching-on threshold voltage is less than 1 V and the switching-off threshold voltage is less than 3.5 V. The ON/OFF ratio of current switches in the range of 104–102 during the variation of applied voltage and the two different resistance states can be maintained over 4 h.

Graphical abstractThe ITO/PBD:PVK/Al sandwiched devices exhibited rewriteable flash memory property.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide