Bottom-up fabrication of n-ZnO-based memristor and p-Cu2O/n-ZnO heterojunction diode using electroless deposition.

This study introduces a low-cost and feasible electroless deposition technique utilized to fabricate an n-ZnO-based memristor and p-Cu₂O/n-ZnO heterojunction diode using a bottom-up approach. Memristor is a two-terminal circuit element with current–voltage (I–V) characteristics presenting non-linear hysteresis. p–n junctions, which have an essential role in solid-state devices, form the basis of many electronic applications. The typical p–n junction occurs at the interface of p and n-type semiconductors. In this study, zinc oxide and cupric oxide thin films are electroless deposited by the immersion method. Elemental and structural analyses are performed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Thicknesses of the resulting thin films are determined by cross-sectional SEM images. I–V measurements show the forming-free bipolar resistive switching characteristic for ZnO-based memristor and p–n junction behavior for p-Cu₂O/n-ZnO. In addition, both ZnO-based memristor and p-Cu₂O/n-ZnO devices are tested for endurance, and the results show stability in the performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]