Source-measuring unit for characterizing resistive switching devices

This manuscript presents a home-made source-measuring unit (SMU) that was developed to characterize Resistive Switching (RS) devices. It can apply voltage up to ±10 V (setting time <1 µs) and measure the current at the same time. The particularity of this SMU is that it can rapidly switch between high current measurements (up to ±25 mA, settling time <25 µs) and low current measurements (typically ∼100 nA, noise level with digital filtering <1 nA, settling time <2 ms). This characteristic allows intercalating writing pulses (pulses consuming high currents that change the resistance of the RS device) and reading pulses (low voltage bias to check the change of resistance). The SMU is based on four operational amplifiers that interface with the personal computer via a general-purpose acquisition system; it uses one digital-to-analog converter output and two analog-to-digital converter inputs. Details of the acquisition software and complete experimental setup to obtain hysteresis switching loops (HSLs) are provided as well. This acquisition setup was used in the work of Stoliar et al. [Sci. Rep. 9, 17740 (2019)] to characterize ferroelectric tunnel junctions. One example of a HSL experiment with these devices is included.