Organic memory cells based on the switching by nanoparticles containing thin films

We report an electrical bistable switching property in two terminal organic memory cells fabricated with a sandwich structure of Alq3/Liq/Alq3, Alq3/10% doped Liq, and mixed compounds of Alq3, PVP, and Zn nitrate hexahydrate nanoparticles (NPs) as the active component between two external electrodes. The conductance switching to two states such as ON/OFF states in the ITO/Alq3/Liq/Alq3/Al devices shows their conductance difference by ON/OFF ratio of several orders (103) in magnitude and outstanding stability having a tendency to remain in that states for an extended period of times (∼24 h). Also, the high and low conductivity states of the memory cells can be exactly obtained by applying a negative voltage pulse to write or a positive voltage pulse to erase, respectively. The memory cells have been maintained during numerous (106) writing–erasing cycles in ambient conditions without serious degradation of the device performance.