Sputter Deposited Mn-doped ZnO Thin Film for Resistive Memory Applications

Transition metal doped Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films with wide band gap semiconducting nature have diverse range of applications including, gas sensors, optical and optoelectronic devices, electronics and spintronics spintronic devices etc. In the present study, Manganese (Mn)-doped ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrates using RF-magnetron sputtering have been investigated for their optical and electrical behavior aiming at resistive random access memory applications. To study the influence of Mn doping and correlation between the structural and the physical properties of the films, the samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), UV-VIS spectrophotometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The films are found to be crystalline and a decrease in lattice parameter from 2.6049 angstrom to 2.5845 angstrom, an increase in optical band gap from 3.27 eV to 3.35 eV and a decrease in Urbach energy from 0.222 eV to 0.171 eV, is observed with increase in Mn-concentration. The electrical performance of the film with highest Mn-content is found to be more suitable for resistive memory applications. Tailoring the electrical behavior of the film by incorporating Mn as dopant is an important approach to find suitable material combination for novel memory devices.