Rectifying filamentary resistive switching in ion-exfoliated LiNbO3 thin films

In this letter, we report the resistive switching properties of ion-exfoliated LiNbO3 thin films. After annealing in Ar or in vacuum, electro-forming has been observed on the thin films, and the oxygen gas bubbles can be eliminated by tuning the annealing conditions in order to prevent the destruction of top electrodes. The thin films show rectifying filamentary resistive switching after forming, which is interpreted by a simplified model that the local filament does not penetrate throughout the LiNbO3 thin film, resulting in asymmetric contact barriers at the two interfaces. The well controlled electro-forming step and the highly reproducible switching properties are attributed to the more homogeneous distribution of defects in single crystalline materials and the specific geometry of filament.