Memristor Structures Based on Amorphous Silicon with a Zirconium Oxide Layer Formed by Magnetron Sputtering

Dmitry Ichyotkin^a^,^b, Ilya Zadiriyev^a^,^c, Konstantin Chernoglazov^a, Mikhail Sapozhnikov^d, Igor Pashenkin^a^,^d, Vyacheslav Demin^a, Vladimir Rylkov^a^,^e

^aNational Research Center «Kurchatov Institute», 123182 Moscow, Russia

^bMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), 141700 Dolgoprudny, Russia

^cLomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^dInstitute for Physics of Microstructures RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

^eFryazino Branch of the Kotelnikov Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Fryazino, 141190 Moscow Region, Russia

Proceedings of Neuronics Conference 2026 (Neuronics26)

Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 2026 September 8th - 10th

Organizers: Valeria Bragaglia and Seyoung Kim

Oral, Dmitry Ichyotkin, presentation 001
Publication date: 24th July 2026

Memristive devices are promising candidates for next‑generation non‑volatile memory and synapse modeling in neuromorphic systems due to their simple structure, scalability, and low power operation [1]. Among various material systems, hybrid structures combining electrochemical metallization (ECM) and valence change memory (VCM) mechanisms offer enhanced control over resistive switching (RS) [2]. In this work, we present Ag/Cu‑Ag/a‑Si/ZrO₂:Y₂O₃/p⁺⁺‑Si memristors synthesized by magnetron sputtering, where a thin (6 nm) yttria‑stabilized zirconia barrier layer is inserted between amorphous Si and the p⁺⁺‑Si substrate.

At the initial stage, we also fabricated barrier layers of magnetron SiO_x (Si deposited in DC mode in oxygen), but ZrO₂:Y₂O₃ demonstrated superior reproducibility and stability, so further studies focused on this material [3]. The a‑Si layer (≈5 nm) acts as a host for cations Ag⁺/Cu⁺ diffusion, which provides the formation of alloy nanochannels that determine the switching positions in zirconium oxide. Under bias, Ag⁺/Cu⁺ ions migrate through a‑Si and create metallic nanochannels, whereas oxygen vacancies in ZrO₂:Y₂O₃ form the filaments, yielding a hybrid ECM–VCM switching mechanism.

The devices exhibit multilevel resistive switching with set voltages U_set=2.9 ± 0.3 V and low compliance currents I_cc = 0.2–0.5 mA (Fig. 1). The ON/OFF resistance ratio reaches R_off/R_on ≈ 900 ± 150, and the device‑to‑device dispersion D2D < 16% across three fabrication batches. High‑resistance ON states (~50 kΩ) are particularly important for energy‑efficient 1T1R memory arrays.

These results demonstrate that a‑Si/ZrO₂:Y₂O₃ heterostructures combine reliable current limiting, controlled ion migration, and high batch‑to‑batch reproducibility, making them suitable for transistor‑controlled 1T1R memory at megabit scales and for neuromorphic applications. Future work will focus on BEOL integration and fabrication of crossbar arrays.

The work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 25-19-90201.

References:

[1] Demin, V.A.; Nekhaev, D.V.; Surazhevsky, I.A.; et al. Necessary conditions for STDP-based pattern recognition learning in a memristive spiking neural network. Neural Networks. 2021, 134, 64–64.

[2] Ichyotkin, D.V.; Zadiriev, I.I.; Chernoglazov, K.Y.; Zharkov, G.D.; Mikhailov, A.N.; Demin, V.A.; Rylkov, V.V. Memristor Structures Based on a-Si with a ZrO2(Y) Barrier Layer Formed by Magnetron Sputtering. Nanobiotechnology Reports. 2026, 21, 114–119.

[3] Ichyotkin, D.V.; Shiryaev, M.E.; Novikov, D.V.; et al. Multilevel memristor structures based on a-Si with enhanced resistive switching stability and low compliance currents. Technical Physics Letters. 2023, 49, 75–75.

Acknowledgements:

Memristor, amorphous silicon, zirconium oxide, magnetron sputtering, resistive switching, 1T1R memory.

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