Voltage-time dilemma and stochastic threshold-voltage variation in pure-silver atomic switches

Nyáry, Anna and Balogh, Zoltán and Vigh, Máté and Sánta, Botond and Pósa, László and Halbritter, András Ernő (2024) Voltage-time dilemma and stochastic threshold-voltage variation in pure-silver atomic switches. PHYSICAL REVIEW APPLIED, 21 (1). ISSN 2331-7019

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Abstract

The formation and dissolution of silver nanowires plays a fundamental role in a broad range of resistive-switching devices, which fundamentally rely on the electrochemical-metallization phenomenon. It has been shown that resistive switching may also appear in pure metallic nanowires lacking any silver-ion-hosting embedding environment but this pure atomic switching mechanism differs fundamentally from the conventional electrochemical-metallization-based resistive switching. To facilitate the quantitative description of the former phenomenon, we investigate a broad range of Ag atomic junctions, with a special focus on the frequency dependence and the fundamentally stochastic cycle-to-cycle variation of the switching-threshold voltage. These devices are established in an ultrahigh-purity environment in which electrochemical metallization can be excluded. The measured characteristics are successfully described by a vibrational-pumping model, yielding consistent predictions for the weak frequency dependence and the large variance of the switching-threshold voltage. We also demonstrate that electrochemical-metallization-based resistive switching and pure atomic switching may appear in the same device structure and therefore the proper understanding of the pure atomic switching mechanism has a very relevant importance in silver-based electrochemical-metallization cells. © 2024 American Physical Society.

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