Influence of the silver oxidation on the resistive switching in Ag/AgOx/WO3-x/Pt heterostructures

Silver is usually considered as an inert material and is most commonly used as an electrode. In this work, however, we demonstrate that silver can be easily oxidized during preparation. The influence of the silver oxidation on the resistive switching (RS) effect of the Ag/AgOx/WO3-x/Pt heterostructures was systematically investigated. The heterostructure in which the AgOx film was deposited under an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10−4 Pa showed a linear current-voltage relationship (Ohmic contact). The heterostructures in which the AgOx films were deposited under oxygen pressures of 10 and 100 Pa showed a typical interface RS effect with rectification. In combination with the analysis of the dependence of high-resistance-state (HRS) on RESET current and RESET voltage under different compliance currents, we inferred that the electrochemical redox reaction of the silver oxide is responsible for the RS effect in Ag/AgOx/WO3-x/Pt heterostructures.