Voltage-induced recovery of dielectric breakdown (high current resistance switching) in HfO₂

Metal/HfO₂/Pt stacks (where the metal is Au, Ag, Co, Ni, Cr, or In) are voltage stressed to induce a high-to-low resistive transition. No current compliance is applied during stressing (except the 100 mA limit of the voltage source). As a consequence very high conductance states are reached after switching, similar to a hard breakdown. Samples conductance after breakdown can reach up to 0.1 S, depending on the metal electrode. Despite the high postbreakdown conductance level, the samples are able to recover an insulating state by further voltage biasing ("high current resistance switching").