Impedance spectroscopy analysis of the switching mechanism of reduced graphene oxide resistive switching memory

[Display omitted] •Thermally reduced graphene oxide applied to resistive switching material of memory.•Reduction conditions and electrode closely affect switching.•Switching originates from the oxidation/reduction at the top electrode interface. In this study, we investigated the resistive switching behavior of pristine graphene oxide and thermally reduced GO. Impedance spectroscopy and current–voltage analysis were used to verify the possible physical mechanism of the switching operation. Our observations demonstrated that, the switching operation originates from the oxidation/reduction at the top interface of Al electrode and oxygen migration inside the active layer. Reversible redox reaction Al+1+xO−2↔AlOx is ground for the conduction electrons.