Thermally stable resistive switching of a polyvinyl alcohol-based atomic switch

Abstract

We demonstrate thermally stable resistive switching of a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE)-based atomic switch device, in which a Ag salt incorporated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film is sandwiched between Ag and Pt electrodes. The observed switching is attributed to the formation and dissolution of a Ag filament in the PVA matrix. The device exhibits good endurance characteristics, with large ON/OFF ratios (>10⁵) in the temperature range between 25 and 70 °C. This temperature stability can be explained by competition between increased segmental mobility and water evaporation at higher temperatures. The results indicate that the thermal behavior of the polymer matrix plays a crucial role in determining the temperature window for stable operation of SPE-based atomic switches.