Organic memristive devices based on silver nanoparticles and DNA

A novel organic memory device ‘Al/silver nanoparticles-deoxyribonucleic acid-cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide/ITO’ (Al/Ag NPs–DNA–CTMA/ITO) was fabricated. The measured I–V curve of the device exhibits unipolar switching. The conductivity and the memristive characteristics are significantly improved by the introduction of Ag nanoparticles, but with a poor stability. Better stability is achieved by annealing the device, which also changes the switching characteristic from unipolar to bipolar. As the annealing temperature is raised, the switching voltage first decreases and then increases, while the current I_RESET first increases and then decreases. The range of the optimal annealing temperature is from 383 K to 403 K and the maximum ON/OFF current ratio (I_ON/I_OFF) can reach 10⁴. The switching voltage, the current, and I_ON/I_OFF all increase with the applied voltage amplitude, and V_SET and I_ON/I_OFF obey a quadratic and Boltzmann relationship, respectively.