Study of digital and analog resistive switching memories based on methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite by experiments and DFT calculations

Abstract In this study, a thin film of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI 3 ) was employed as the switching layer in the metal/MAPbI 3 /FTO devices. Two metals, Ag and Cr, were used as active and inert top electrodes to govern the hysteresis effect of memory devices, respectively. While the Cr/MAPbI 3 /FTO device displayed an analog resistive switching (RS) behavior and a comparatively low ON/OFF ratio of 10, the Ag/MAPbI 3 /FTO structure displayed digital bipolar RS and a high ON/OFF ratio of 10 2 . The density functional theory simulations suggest that these various behaviors may be caused by variations in the mutual interaction between the iodine vacancy defect and the metal contact properties. The SET process involved switching both devices from a high-resistance state to a low-resistance one using the space charge-limited current mechanism. In the RESET process, the Ag-electrode device is allocated the Poole–Frenkel emission mechanism, and the Cr-electrode device is followed the Fowler–Nordheim tunneling mechanism. The formation and dissociation of iodine vacancy filaments via the dielectric layer were identified as the RS mechanism in both devices. The findings show that organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite has a strong potential for data storage.