Polar charges induced electric hysteresis of ZnO nano/microwire for fast data storage

We demonstrate an innovative memory device made of a single crystalline ZnO nanowire/microwire that works with a different mechanism from the p-n junction based memristor. A nonsymmetric, Schottky-Ohmic contacted ZnO nano/microwire can serve as a memristor if the channel length is short and the applied frequency is high. The observed phenomena could be explained based on a screening model of the polar charges at the two ends of the wire owing to the crystal structure of ZnO. The polar charges are usually fully screened by free electrons coming from the metal sides. But when the magnitude of the externally applied field exceeds a threshold value, the free electrons that screen the polar surfaces can be pulled away from the interface region, leading to a transient change in the effective height of the local Schottky barrier height owing to the electrical field formed by the polar surfaces of ZnO nanowires, which acts as a resistor with its magnitude depending on the total charges being transported. Such a phenomenon could be used for high density and fast writing/erasing data storage.