Polarity-dependent effect of humidity on the resistive switching characteristics of nonpolar devices

The roles of moisture in resistive switching (RS) devices are closely related to the RS mechanism. In principle, the nonpolar RS promises symmetric behaviors independent of the polarities of operating voltages. However, the effect of humidity on the RS characteristics of Pt/TiO2?x/Pt nonpolar cells is confirmed to be polarity-dependent. The positive electroforming threshold voltage decreases when humidity increases, whereas the negative one is unaffected. This asymmetric phenomenon can be attributed to the polarity-associated rule of current varying with humidity before electroforming. The voltage distribution in the device and then the electroforming threshold voltage are modified.