Bipolar resistive switching and memristive properties of sprayed deposited Bi2WO6 thin films

The present work demonstrates the development and investigation of bipolar resistive switching characteristics of the Al/Bi 2 WO 6 /FTO thin-film memristive device. The Bi 2 WO 6 (BWO) active layer was deposited on FTO coated glass substrates using a spray pyrolysis technique and the effect of spray volume on resistive switching characteristics was investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the thin films were polycrystalline with the orthorhombic crystal structure. The spherical grains were observed from the morphological study for an optimized sample and incomplete growth of grains was seen for other samples. The energy dispersive X-ray spectra show the presence of different constituent elements such as Bi, W, and O. The pinched hysteresis loop is the basic signature of a memristive device and was observed in all Al/BWO/FTO devices. The bipolar resistive switching characteristic was observed in all devices. The optimized device shows maximum current and the highest memristive area. Endurance test suggests that the device can be switched in consecutive 2 × 10 3 switching cycles and can retain the data up to 10 3 s without any observable degradation in the switching properties. The Al/BWO/FTO device possesses the double valued charge-flux property, suggesting the presence of memristive properties. The HRS follows the Schottky conduction mechanism while LRS govern by the Ohmic charge transport mechanism. • The Bi 2 WO 6 thin films are successfully synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique. • The devices show bipolar resistive switching behaviour. • Resistive switching voltage, SET-RESET current and memristive area are affected by volume of spraying solution. • The devices show non-ideal double valued charge-flux characteristics. • The Charge transport is due to Schottky emission and Ohmic conduction.