Chemically-inactive interfaces in thin film Ag/AgI systems for resistive switching memories

AgI nanoionics-based resistive switching memories were studied in respect to chemical stability of the Ag/AgI interface using x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The apparent dissolution of Ag films of thickness below some tens of nanometers and the loss of electrode/electrolyte contact was critically addressed. The results evidently show that there are no chemical interactions at the interface despite the high ionic mobility of Ag ions. Simulation results further show that Ag metal clusters can form in the AgI layer with intermediate-range order at least up to next-next nearest neighbors, suggesting that Ag can permeate into the AgI only in an aggregated form of metal crystallite.