Correlation between growth kinetics and nanoscale resistive switching properties of SrTiO₃ thin films

We deliberately fabricated SrTiO₃ thin films deviating from ideal stoichiometry and from two-dimensional layer-by-layer growth mode, in order to study the impact of well pronounced defect arrangements on the nanoscale electrical properties. By combining transmission electron microscopy with conductive-tip atomic force microscopy we succeeded to elucidate the microstructure of thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition under kinetically limited growth conditions and to correlate it with the local electrical properties. SrTiO₃ thin films, grown in a layer-by-layer growth mode, exhibit a defect structure and conductivity pattern close to single crystals, containing irregularly distributed, resistive switching spots. In contrast to this, Ti-rich films exhibit short-range-ordered, well-conducting resistive switching units. For Ti-rich films grown in a kinetically more restricted island growth mode, we succeeded to identify defective island boundaries with the location of tip-induced resistive switching. The observed nanoscale switching behavior is consistent with a voltage driven oxygen vacancy movement that induces a local redox-based metal-to-insulator transition. Switching occurs preferentially in defect-rich regions, that exhibit a high concentration of oxygen vacancies and might act as easy-diffusion-channels.