Ultraviolet-assisted direct patterning and low-temperature formation of flexible ZrO₂ resistive switching arrays on...

We demonstrate a low-cost and facile photochemical solution method to prepare the ZrO₂ resistive switching arrays as memristive units on flexible PET/ITO substrates. ZrO₂ solution sensitive to UV light of 337 nm was synthesized using zirconium n-butyl alcohol as the precursor, and benzoylacetone as the complexing agent. After the dip-coated ZrO₂ gel films were irradiated through a mask under the UV lamp (with wavelength of 325-365 nm) at room temperature and rinsed in ethanol, the ZrO₂ gel arrays were obtained on PET/ITO substrates. Subsequently, the ZrO₂ gel arrays were irradiated by deep UV light of 254 and 185 nm at 150 °C, resulting in the amorphous ZrO₂ memristive micro-arrays. The ZrO₂ units on flexible PET/ITO substrates exhibited excellent memristive properties. A high ratio of 10⁴ of on-state and off-state resistance was obtained. The resistive switching behavior of the flexible device remained stable after being bent for 10³ times. The device showed stable flexibility up to a minimum bending diameter of 1.25 cm.