Switching and filamentary conduction in non-volatile organic memories

Switching in metal/organic/metal structures for non-volatile memory applications was investigated. The electrodes turned out to be crucial for obtaining reversible switching, whereas the organic material had only minor influence. Electron-only devices with aluminum electrodes showed reversible resistive switching due to external bias. Transport and switching mechanism were studied by measuring I–V characteristics, retention, impedance spectroscopy and temperature dependence. The results suggest that switching is due to the oxide layer at the electrode and transport through filaments. Spatially resolved infrared photographs prove the filamentary nature.