A study on optical properties of Sb2Se3 thin films and resistive switching behavior in Ag/Sb2Se3/W heterojunctions

In this study, optical phase change property and bipolar memristive switching behavior were systematically characterized in Sb2Se3 thin films with different annealing temperatures and Ag/Sb2Se3/W heterojunction, respectively. The structural investigations reveal that the crystallinity of Sb2Se3 sample improves with increasing annealing temperature. Anomalous changes of both structure and optical properties are attributed to the increase of defect states at an excessively high annealing temperature. Additionally, the absorption edge shift towards longer wavelength after thermal treatment, indicating a decrease in the optical band gap. In the aspect of electrical characteristics, the Ag/Sb2Se3/W cell has a bipolar memristive switching behavior and shows reversible switching property. The study based on the optical properties and memristive switching behaviors of Sb2Se3 thin films offers an important understanding to the applications of Sb2Se3 and other chalcogenide semiconductor as promising materials for integrated optical system and chalcogenide-based memory devices.