Non-volatile organic memory effect with thickness control of the insulating LiF charge trap layer

An organic, electrically bistable device with a novel charge trap system (CTS, LiF/Al/LiF) in the crossbar structure of Al/Alq3/(LiF/Al/LiF)/Alq3/Al was fabricated to develop a vertically oriented crossbar array memory device. The novel concept of CTS with thickness control (2, 4, and 6 nm) of an insulating LiF layer was introduced. The CTS with a 4.0 nm-thick LiF layer displayed non-volatile memory behavior with a hysteresis having large ON/OFF ratio (more than three orders of magnitude) and had the ability of writing–reading–erasing–reading cycles. No significant degradation of the device was observed in either the ON or OFF state after continuous stress testing (>2000 s).

Graphical abstractCharge-trap organic memoryFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► The crossbar structure of Al/Alq3/(LiF/Al/LiF)/Alq3/Al was fabricated. ► A charge trap system (CTS, LiF/Al/LiF) showed bistability. ► The CTS with a 4.0 nm-thick LiF layer displayed non-volatile memory behavior. ► No significant degradation of writing–reading–erasing–reading cycles was not observed.