Interface-Engineered polymer nanocomposite RRAM with enhanced switching reliability and performance

In this study, non-volatile resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices were fabricated using polymer nanocomposites (NCs) consisting of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs). The fabricated ITO/CuO:PVA/Al devices demonstrated bipolar resistive switching (RS) behavior, primarily driven by the charge trapping/de-trapping dynamics associated with the CuO NPs. However, excessive defect densities within the NC layer limited device reliability and switching performance. To address this issue, a hydroquinone-modified PEDOT:PSS (HQ-PEDOT:PSS) interfacial buffer layer was introduced to enhance interfacial properties. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis confirmed that HQ-PEDOT:PSS effectively suppressed trap-assisted charge recombination and improved charge transfer efficiency at the interface. As a result, HQ-PEDOT:PSS-incorporated devices (HQ-NC-RRAM) demonstrated a significantly enhanced ON/OFF ratio of ∼10 4 and a remarkably low data dispersion variance (VDD ≈ 0.01) during endurance measurements. Compared to devices with conventional pristine-PEDOT:PSS or no buffer layer, the HQ-NC-RRAM demonstrated notably improved switching performance and device reliability. These findings highlight the effectiveness of HQ-PEDOT:PSS in interface engineering for high-performance NC-RRAMs. • Nanocomposite-based RRAM devices were fabricated by embedding CuO nanoparticles into a PVA matrix, and well-defined bipolar resistive switching was achieved at the optimized concentration. • A hydroquinone-modified PEDOT:PSS (HQ-PEDOT:PSS) interfacial layer was introduced to significantly enhance charge injection efficiency and interfacial interaction between the electrode and the nanocomposite active layer. • Devices incorporating HQ-PEDOT:PSS exhibited a high ON/OFF ratio of ∼10 4 , excellent switching uniformity, and a remarkably low variance of data dispersion (VDD ≈ 0.01), demonstrating improved device reliability. • Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that HQ-PEDOT:PSS effectively suppressed trap-assisted recombination and reduced interfacial capacitance compared to conventional PEDOT:PSS. • AFM surface analysis confirmed that HQ-treated PEDOT:PSS formed a more uniform morphology, leading to stable conductive filament formation and enhanced switching endurance.