Resistance Switching Behavior Of Antimony Sulfide With Nominal C60 Addition

Abstract

The resistive switching behavior of antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) thin films with controlled annealing and fullerene (C60) incorporation for electrochemical metallization (ECM)-type memory applications is investigated in this work. Grain development, crystallinity, surface roughness, and defect distribution are all greatly impacted by annealing, according to temperature-dependent structural investigations. Thin films annealed at 350°C demonstrated reduced surface irregularity, moderate grain size, and optimized crystalline ordering, all of which support the creation of stable conductive pathways. Clear bipolar resistive switching is confirmed by electrical measurements, and the optimal annealing temperature yields the maximum ON/OFF ratio (105) and reasonable memory window (2.6 V). To control defect density and filament dynamics, C60 (0–0.75 wt.%) was incorporated in the thin film. Moderate nominal C60 addition (0.50 wt.%) improved precursor dispersion stability, increased crystallinity, decreased surface roughness, and refined grain homogeneity, which increased the resistive contrast and decreased switching variability and voltage distribution. Current–voltage analysis verified that trap-controlled space-charge-limited conduction governs the charge transport in the high-resistance state, and metallic-like conduction dominates in the low-resistance state. This work demonstrates that improving Sb2S3-based resistive memory performance can be achieved through defect engineering via heat treatment and incorporation of C60.

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant 2554740

Keywords and Phrases

annealing; electrochemical metallization; fullerene; Resistive switching; trap-assisted charge transport

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1543-186X; 0361-5235

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 Springer, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2026

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