Molecular Design Toward High-Performance Solution-Processable Push-Pull Zinc(II) Porphyrin-Based Resistive Memory...

A series of zinc(II) porphyrin-based donor-acceptor (D-A) decorated complexes has been designed, synthesized, characterized, and employed to fabricate solution-processable resistive memory devices. High-performance ternary memory devices based on these complexes have been demonstrated by the well-separated current ratios of 1:10³:10⁶ with the "OFF", "ON1", and "ON2" resistive states. A long retention time of over 20,000 s has also been achieved. Instead of using strong electron-donating and withdrawing moieties, this work has demonstrated the utilization of weak electron-donating and withdrawing units to realize ternary memory behaviors. Together with the photophysical, electrochemical, and computational studies, ternary memory behaviors have been assigned as originating from the charge-trapping state of the porphyrin core and charge transfer processes associated with the D-A moieties. The present study has demonstrated the structure-property relationship of the memory devices and offers important insights as well as design strategies for the development of multilevel organic resistive memory devices.