Synthesis of oxygen-deficient and monodispersed Pr doped CeO2 nanocubes with enhanced resistive switching properties

Abstract

Monodispersed praseodymium (Pr) doped cerium oxide (CeO2) nanocubes (∼ 10 nm) were successfully synthesized via a facile two-phase solvothermal method and further assembled into a dense film through a drop-coating procedure for resistive switching applications. The XRD and Raman results showed that Pr element was successfully doped into the CeO2 lattice structure while maintaining the highly uniform nano-cubic structure. In addition, the concentration of oxygen vacancy in CeO2 nanocubes could be effectively modulated by varying dopant concentration evidenced by XPS and Raman analysis. The two-terminal structured device of Au/Pr doped CeO2/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) exhibits stable resistive switching behaviour and ON/OFF endurance for more than 1000 cycles at a small operational voltage ranging from -0.6 to 1V. The present study may extend the potential of using praseodymium (Pr) doped cerium oxide nanocube in nanoscale building block for novelty 3D architectural memory and logic design in data-dependent applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) system and machine learning.