Correction for ‘Enhanced resistive switching effect upon illumination in self-assembled NiWO4 nano-nests’ by Bai Sun et al., Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 13142–13145.

•The Ce2W3O12 powder was prepared by a simple hydrothermal way.•We fabricated a resistive switching memory device with Ag/Ce2W3O12/FTO structure.•The visible-light illumination can affect the resistive switching memory behaviour.The resistive switching device is a fascinating candidate for next generation nonvolatile memories. In this Letter, we report a simple hydrothermal way to prepare Ce2W3O12 powder. Furthermore, we fabricated a resistive switching memory device with Ag/Ce2W3O12/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) structure. Moreover, we observed the effect of visible-light illumination on resistive switching memory behaviour in Ag/Ce2W3O12/FTO devices. This Letter is useful for exploring the new potential materials for resistive switching memory device, and provides the visible-light as a new control method for resistive switching random access memory (RRAM).For the first time, the Ce2W3O12 nanosheets powder was prepared by a hydrothermal process, and we observed the effect of visible-light illumination on resistive switching behaviour in Ag/Ce2W3O12/FTO devices.

Over the next few years, it is expected that resistive random access memory (RRAM) will be developed as promising non-volatile memory owing to its advantages of simple structure and high storage density. Thus there is a need for new methods to assemble multifunctional materials for resistive switching memory devices. In this work, we assemble CuO and Al nanoparticles into CuO-DNA-Al nanocomposites, where DNA strands bridge CuO nanoparticles and Al nanoparticles, by a DNA-directed assembly procedure, and investigate their memory behaviors. These CuO-DNA-Al nanocomposites present outstanding improved resistive switching memory behaviors in comparison with physically mixed CuO–Al nanocomposites. Based on the superior memory characteristics of the Au/CuO-DNA-Al/Au/Si device, a model concerning the formation and rupture of the nanoscale DNA strand assisted conductive filament mechanism is therefore suggested to explain the memory behaviors. This work opens up a new route for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in nonvolatile RRAM.

Resistive switching memory devices, in which the resistance can be modulated between two nonvolatile states by applying an electrical pulse, have been proposed as the fascinating candidates for next generation logic and nonvolatile memory devices. Herein we report on the observation of magnetic-field controlled resistive switching behaviors in the Ag/[BiFeO3/γ-Fe2O3]/FTO structure. Moreover, this resistive switching behavior can be modulated by white light. Therefore, such a resistive switching memory can be controlled simultaneously by voltage pulses, magnetic field and white light. This study is helpful for exploring the nonvolatile multistate memory devices manipulated by various means.

•The TiO2/Cu2O composite nanorods array is prepared by hydrothermal method.•We demonstrate a resistive switching device of Ag/[TiO2/Cu2O]/FTO structure.•The device show white-light controlled resistive switching characteristics.TiO2/Cu2O composite nanorods array were grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by hydrothermal process, and white-light-controlled resistive switching characteristics of Ag/[TiO2/Cu2O]/FTO structure were further investigated. The current–voltage characteristics of the composite nanorods array represent a good rectifying property and bipolar resistive switching behavior. Specially, the resistive switching behavior can be regulated by white-light illuminating at room temperature. This study is helpful for exploring the memory materials and their applications in nonvolatile light-controlled memory devices.

•The CuWO4 nanoparticles were prepared by a hydrothermal method.•We demonstrated a resistive switching memory with Ag/CuWO4/FTO structure.•The device shows photo-electron double controlled resistive switching memory.In this work, the CuWO4 film based resistive switching memory capacitors were fabricated with hydrothermal and spin-coating approaches. The device exhibits excellent photo-electron double controlled resistive switching memory characteristics with OFF/ON resistance ratio of ~103. It is believed that the interface of CuWO4 and FTO is responsible for such a switching behavior and it can be described by the Schottky-like barriers model. This study is useful for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in photo-electron double controlled nonvolatile memory devices.

In this work, BaWO4 nanospheres were successfully prepared by hydrothermal process. The bipolar resistive switching behavior of Ag/BaWO4/FTO device is observed. Moreover, this resistive switching behavior can be modulated by white light. The device can maintain superior stability in the dark and under white-light illumination. This study is useful for developing the light-controlled nonvolatile memory devices.

In this work, CuCr2O4 nanoparticles were successfully prepared by an improved hydrothermal process, and a resistive switching memory behavior with Ag/CuCr2O4/fluorine-doped tin oxide structure is demonstrated. Specially, the resistive switching memory characteristics can be controlled by white-light illumination. The device can maintain superior stability over 100 cycles with an OFF/ON-state resistance ratio of about 103 at room temperature. This study is useful for exploring the promising light-controlled resistive switching memory device in the development of resistive switching random-access memory.

Multiferroic materials, which synchronously exhibit magnetism and ferroelectricity, are promising multifunctional materials, especially for spin electronic applications. The magnetoelectric effect has been observed in many multiferroic materials and couples magnetism and ferroelectricity. However, until now, the coupling of light with magnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic materials has not been reported. Herein, we report the observation of remarkable white-light-controlled ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic single-crystalline BiFeO3 nanoflowers at room temperature. The relative white-light-induced reduction in the ferromagnetic polarization is about 28% under white light illumination with a power density of 65 mW cm−2 at the low magnetic field. At the same time, the relative white-light-induced enhancements of the saturated ferroelectric polarization and the remanent ferroelectric polarization are more than 200% under white light illumination with a power density of 65 mW cm−2. Furthermore, the single-crystalline BiFeO3 nanoflowers show substantial ferromagnetism (0.27 μB/Fe) at room temperature. Our results presented in this paper open a new route for multifunctionality where ferromagnetic polarization and ferroelectric polarization can be controlled simultaneously by light, a magnetic field and an electric field.

The resistive switching effect of devices with metal-oxide–metal structure is a fascinating candidate for next generation nonvolatile memory devices. Here, self-assembled NiWO4 nano-nests on a Ti substrate were synthesized by a hydrothermal process. Moreover, a resistive switching memory device with Ag/NiWO4/Ti structure is demonstrated. The device shows an enhanced bipolar resistive switching effect under white-light illumination. This study is useful for exploring multifunctional materials and their applications in light-controlled nonvolatile memory devices.

High quality WO3/CoWO4 core–shell nanowires have been successfully prepared by a hydrothermal process. Bipolar resistive switching behavior in a Ag/[WO3/CoWO4]/Ag device is demonstrated. The device can maintain superior stability over 100 cycles with an OFF/ON-state resistance ratio of about 333 at room temperature. The physical model of conducting filament formation due to the diffusion of Ag ions along the WO3/CoWO4 core–shell nanowires at high electric field has been suggested to explain the bipolar resistive switching behavior.

FeWO4 nanowires were prepared by the hydrothermal process, and the room-temperature multiferroic properties of as-prepared FeWO4 nanowires were investigated. Herein we report on the observation, for the first time, of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism coexisting in the FeWO4 nanowires at room temperature. Specifically, the ferroelectricity can be controlled by white light; the relative light-induced change of the saturated polarization is more than 50%. Furthermore, magnetoelectric coupling is also observed in the dark and under light irradiation at 10 K.

Multiferroic materials hold promising potential for multifunctional applications because they simultaneously possess ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity. Moreover, the magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic materials is especially important for basic research, and it has significant applications in nonvolatile multiple-state memory devices. In this work, for the first time, we report that visible light can control the ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric coupling in BiCoO3 nanoribbons. The relative visible-light-induced improvement of the saturated ferroelectric polarization is more than 60%. The relative visible-light-induced enhancement of the magnetoelectric effect is about 10%, indicating that light offers additional degree of freedom in controlling the coupling between ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity.

•The BiCoO3 microribbons were prepared successfully by hydrothermal method.•We prepared a resistive switching device with Ag/BiCoO3/Ag structure.•The device shows superior bipolar resistive switching behaviors.•This study is helpful for exploring the nonvolatile resistive memory devices.Resistive switching random access memory (RRAM) is considered as a promising candidate for the next generation of non-volatile memory. Herein single-crystalline BiCoO3 microribbons with width of 2 μm and length of several microns were prepared by a hydrothermal process. We demonstrate good bipolar resistive switching behavior based on multiferroic BiCoO3 microribbons, which displays a low operation voltage (≤2 V) and long data retention (over 5 months).We demonstrate a reversible resistive switching device based on BiCoO3 microribbons, the device presents superior memristive behaviors.

•Large perpendicular coercive forces in CoFeB thin films with thickness up to 172 nm were observed.•The value of the perpendicular coercive force is 1850 Oe as the thickness of the CoFeB layer is 38 nm.•The large perpendicular coercive force indicates the presence of intrinsic perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in thick CoFeB layer.The room-temperature magnetic properties of CoFeB thin films grown on silicon substrate were investigated. Large perpendicular coercive forces in CoFeB thin films with thickness up to 172 nm were observed. The value of the perpendicular coercive force is 1850 Oe as the thickness of the CoFeB layer is 38 nm. The large perpendicular coercive force indicates the presence of intrinsic perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in thick CoFeB layer with thickness up to 172 nm, which originates from (300) texture in CoFeB layer. The strength of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of CoFeB depends on annealing temperature.

•White-light-controlled resistive switching effect in [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film is observed.•The resistive switching effect becomes stronger with the annealing temperature increasing.•The resistive switching shows a strong dependence on the thickness of the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3] layer.White-light-controlled resistive switching effect in [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was investigated. Resistive switching effect in the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was observed. The resistive switching effect becomes stronger when subjected to white light irradiation. In addition, the resistive switching effect becomes stronger with increase in annealed temperature. At the same time, resistive switching shows a strong dependence on the thickness of the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3] layer.

Multiferroic materials exhibiting magnetism and ferroelectricity are promising multifunctional materials, especially for spin electronic applications. The magnetoelectric effect was observed in many multiferroic materials, which couples magnetism and ferroelecticity. However, until now, the coupling of light with magnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic materials has not been reported yet. Herein we report on the observation of the remarkable white-light-controlled ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic BiFeO3 nanosheets at room temperature (300 K). The relative white-light-induced reduction of the ferromagnetic polarization is about 30%, and the relative white-light-induced change of the ferroelectric polarization is more than 225%. Furthermore, the BiFeO3 nanosheets show substantial ferromagnetism (0.2 μB/Fe) at room temperature (300 K). Our result presented in this paper opens a new route for multifunctionality where magnetic polarization and ferroelectric polarization can be controlled simultaneously by light and magnetic field and electric field.

White-light-controlled resistance switching and photovoltaic effects in TiO2/ZnO composite nanorods array grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by hydrothermal process were investigated. The average length of TiO2/ZnO nanorods is about 3 μm, and the average diameter is about 200 nm. ZnO nanoparticles with size 5–10 nm are embedded in TiO2 base material. The current–voltage characteristics of Ag/[TiO2/ZnO]/FTO device demonstrate an outstanding rectifying property and bipolar resistive switching behavior. Specially, the resistive switching behavior can be regulated by white-light illuminating. In addition, this structure also exhibits a substantial white-light photovoltaic effect. This study is helpful for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in nonvolatile multistate memory devices and solar cells.

The magnetic properties, electrical properties and magnetoresistance are investigated in Ni80Fe20-ITO granular film with various volume fractions VNF of Ni80Fe20. The room temperature magnetization hysteresis of sample with VNF = 25% shows superparamagnetic behavior. Current-voltage curve of sample with VNF = 25% at 175 K shows typical tunneling-type behavior. The magnetoresistances of samples with low VNF are positive at high temperature, and are negative at low temperature. The temperature-dependent magnetoresistances result from the competition among ordinary magnetoresistances, the granular-typed tunneling magnetoresistance and the spin-mixing induced magnetoresistances.Highlights► Magnetoresistance (MR) in Ni80Fe20-ITO granular film are investigated. ► MR is positive at high temperature, and is negative at low temperature. ► MR results from the competition among three mechanisms.

Fe-ITO granular films with various volume fractions of Fe were prepared using the radio frequency (RF) co-sputtering technique. The magnetic and magnetoresistance properties were investigated. A transition from superparamagnetic granular films to ferromagnetic multidomain granular films with increasing the volume fraction of Fe is observed. The magnetoresistance of sample with low volume fraction of Fe follows (M/MS)2, while the magnetoresistance of samples with high volume fraction of Fe is composed of a ferromagnetic and a superparamagnetic contribution that is likely caused by the presence of small isolated superparamagnetic granules and interconnected or larger granules of ferromagnetic Fe. Further morphological and crystallographic analysis is required to fully establish the explanation.

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and magnetic properties in Fe/In/Fe trilayers with various In thickness were studied. Negative GMR 0.38% was observed in sample with In thickness 1.05 nm at 20 K. The magnitudes of GMR were found to oscillate with a period about 1.1 nm when varying the thickness of In layers. The GMR of trilayers was near constant at low temperature and decreased linearly with increasing temperature at high temperature.

The electrical and magnetic properties of Co/ITO multilayers with various ITO layer thickness are studied. Negative giant magnetoresistance with a maximum of −1.9% at room temperature and −2.57% at 15 K are observed. The magnitudes of GMRGMR oscillate with a period of about 1 nm when varying the thickness of ITO layer.

The magnetic, transport and thermal properties of single crystal Co2FeGa have been investigated. The small coercivity 20 Oe and saturation field 4000 Oe of Co2FeGa sample at temperature 5 K indicates that the single crystal is magnetically soft. The resistivity (ρ) behaves according to ρ ∼ T1/2 power law below temperature T = 40 K, which is due to electron–electron interaction effects in the presence of disorder. The thermal conductivity of Co2FeGa single exhibits anomalous temperature dependence above 50 K, i.e., the conductivity increases with the temperature, or dκ/dT > 0. We conclude that this anomalous thermal conductivity is due to the strong atomic disorder between the Fe and Co atoms.

Fe/In multilayers were prepared by the DC magnetron sputtering method, and their electrical and magnetic properties were studied. Negative giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with a maximum of −0.84% at 10 K was observed. The magnitude of GMR and the saturation field (Hs)(Hs) were found to oscillate with a period about 1.3 nm when varying the thickness of In layers. Atomic force microscope images of samples were taken to investigate the surface morphology. The GMR effect is composed of antiferromagnetic coupling between the neighboring Fe layers and superparamagnetic spins effect at the Fe/In interface. A reduction of the anomalous GMR effect with decreasing temperature is presented.

The single crystal Ni54Fe19Ga27 shows a martensitic transformation at 281 K on cooling and 283 K on warming. Large jumps in the temperature-dependent resistance curve, temperature-dependent magnetization curve and temperature-dependent thermal conductivity curve are observed at the martensitic transition temperature (TM). Negative magnetoresistance due to spin disorder scattering was observed in Ni54Fe19Ga27 single crystal in all temperature ranges. The Ni54Fe19Ga27 sample exhibited a temperature dependence of thermal conductivity κ(T)(dκ/dT>0) due to atomic disorder above a temperature of 50 K.

•White-light-controlled resistive switching effect in [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film is observed.•The resistive switching effect becomes stronger with the annealing temperature increasing.•The resistive switching shows a strong dependence on the thickness of the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3] layer.White-light-controlled resistive switching effect in [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was investigated. Resistive switching effect in the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3]/ZnO film was observed. The resistive switching effect becomes stronger when subjected to white light irradiation. In addition, the resistive switching effect becomes stronger with increase in annealed temperature. At the same time, resistive switching shows a strong dependence on the thickness of the [BaTiO3/γ-Fe2O3] layer.

•The CuWO4 nanoparticles were prepared by a hydrothermal method.•We demonstrated a resistive switching memory with Ag/CuWO4/FTO structure.•The device shows photo-electron double controlled resistive switching memory.In this work, the CuWO4 film based resistive switching memory capacitors were fabricated with hydrothermal and spin-coating approaches. The device exhibits excellent photo-electron double controlled resistive switching memory characteristics with OFF/ON resistance ratio of ~103. It is believed that the interface of CuWO4 and FTO is responsible for such a switching behavior and it can be described by the Schottky-like barriers model. This study is useful for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in photo-electron double controlled nonvolatile memory devices.

Correction for ‘Enhanced resistive switching effect upon illumination in self-assembled NiWO4 nano-nests’ by Bai Sun et al., Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 13142–13145.

Multiferroic materials, which synchronously exhibit magnetism and ferroelectricity, are promising multifunctional materials, especially for spin electronic applications. The magnetoelectric effect has been observed in many multiferroic materials and couples magnetism and ferroelectricity. However, until now, the coupling of light with magnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic materials has not been reported. Herein, we report the observation of remarkable white-light-controlled ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroic single-crystalline BiFeO3 nanoflowers at room temperature. The relative white-light-induced reduction in the ferromagnetic polarization is about 28% under white light illumination with a power density of 65 mW cm−2 at the low magnetic field. At the same time, the relative white-light-induced enhancements of the saturated ferroelectric polarization and the remanent ferroelectric polarization are more than 200% under white light illumination with a power density of 65 mW cm−2. Furthermore, the single-crystalline BiFeO3 nanoflowers show substantial ferromagnetism (0.27 μB/Fe) at room temperature. Our results presented in this paper open a new route for multifunctionality where ferromagnetic polarization and ferroelectric polarization can be controlled simultaneously by light, a magnetic field and an electric field.

Over the next few years, it is expected that resistive random access memory (RRAM) will be developed as promising non-volatile memory owing to its advantages of simple structure and high storage density. Thus there is a need for new methods to assemble multifunctional materials for resistive switching memory devices. In this work, we assemble CuO and Al nanoparticles into CuO-DNA-Al nanocomposites, where DNA strands bridge CuO nanoparticles and Al nanoparticles, by a DNA-directed assembly procedure, and investigate their memory behaviors. These CuO-DNA-Al nanocomposites present outstanding improved resistive switching memory behaviors in comparison with physically mixed CuO–Al nanocomposites. Based on the superior memory characteristics of the Au/CuO-DNA-Al/Au/Si device, a model concerning the formation and rupture of the nanoscale DNA strand assisted conductive filament mechanism is therefore suggested to explain the memory behaviors. This work opens up a new route for exploring the multifunctional materials and their applications in nonvolatile RRAM.

The resistive switching effect of devices with metal-oxide–metal structure is a fascinating candidate for next generation nonvolatile memory devices. Here, self-assembled NiWO4 nano-nests on a Ti substrate were synthesized by a hydrothermal process. Moreover, a resistive switching memory device with Ag/NiWO4/Ti structure is demonstrated. The device shows an enhanced bipolar resistive switching effect under white-light illumination. This study is useful for exploring multifunctional materials and their applications in light-controlled nonvolatile memory devices.