Transient N-GQDs/PVA nanocomposite thin film for memristor application

In recent years quantum dot (QDs) based resistive switching devices(memristors) have gained a lot of attention. Here we report the resistive switching behavior of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots/Polyvinyl alcohol (N-GQDs/PVA) degradable nanocomposite thin film with different weight percentages (wt.%) of N-GQDs. The memristor device was fabricated by a simple spin coating technique. It was found that 1 wt% N-GQDs/PVA device shows a prominent resistive switching phenomenon with good cyclic stability, high on/off ratio of ~10²and retention time of ∼10⁴s. From a detailed experimental study of band structure, we conclude that memristive behavior originates from the space charge controlled conduction (SCLC) mechanism. Further transient property of built memristive device was studied. Within three minutes of being submerged in distilled water, the fabricated memory device was destroyed. This phenomenon facilitates the usage of fabricated memristor devices to develop memory devices for military and security purposes.