Organic nonvolatile memory devices have a vital role for the next generation of electrical memory units, due to their large scalability and low-cost fabrication techniques. Here, we show bipolar resistive switching based on an Ag/ZnO/P3HT-PCBM/ITO device in which P3HT-PCBM acts as an organic heterojunction with inorganic ZnO protective layer. The prepared memory device has consistent DC endurance (500 cycles), retention properties (10⁴ s), high ON/OFF ratio (10⁵), and environmental stability. The observation of bipolar resistive switching is attributed to creation and rupture of the Ag filament. In addition, our conductive bridge random access memory (CBRAM) device has adequate regulation of the current compliance leads to multilevel resistive switching of a high data density storage.

Herein, we synthesized the zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films (TFs) deposited on glass substrates via spray pyrolysis (SP) to prepare self-cleaning glass. Various process parameters were used to optimize photocatalytic performance. Substrates were coated at room temperature (RT) and 250 °C with a 1 mL or 2 mL ZnO solution while maintaining a distance from the spray gun to the substrate of 20 cm or 30 cm. Several characterization techniques, i.e., XRD, SEM, AFM, and UV–Vis were used to determine the structural, morphological, and optical characteristics of the prepared samples. The wettability of the samples was evaluated using contact angle measurements. As ZnO is hydrophilic in nature, the RT deposited samples showed a hydrophilic character, whereas the ZnO TFs deposited at 250 °C demonstrated a hydrophobic character. The XRD results showed a higher degree of crystallinity for samples deposited on heated substrates. Because of this higher crystallinity, the surface energy decreased, and the contact angle increased. Moreover, by using 2 mL solution, better surface coverage and roughness were obtained for the ZnO TFs. However, by exploiting the distance of the spray to the samples size distribution and surface coverage can be controlled, the samples deposited at 30 mL showed a uniform particle size distribution from 30–40 nm. In addition, the photoactivity of the samples was tested by the degradation of rhodamine B dye. Substrates prepared with a 2 mL solution sprayed at 20 cm showed higher dye degradation than other samples, which can play a vital role in self-cleaning. Hence, by changing the said parameters, the ZnO thin film properties on glass substrates were optimized for self-cleaning diversity.

In this study, the dominant role of the top electrode is presented for Nb₂O₅-based devices to demonstrate either the resistive switching or threshold characteristics. These Nb₂O₅-based devices may exhibit different characteristics depending on the selection of electrode. The use of the inert electrode (Au) initiates resistive switching characteristics in the Au/Nb₂O₅/Pt device. Alternatively, threshold characteristics are induced by using reactive electrodes (W and Nb). The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirms the presence of oxide layers of WO_y and NbO_x at interfaces for W and Nb as top electrodes. However, no interface layer between the top electrode and active layer is detected in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for Au as the top electrode. Moreover, the dominant phase is Nb₂O₅ for Au and NbO₂ for W and Nb. The threshold characteristics are attributed to the reduction of Nb₂O₅ phase to NbO₂ due to the interfacial oxide layer formation between the reactive top electrode and Nb₂O₅. Additionally, reliability tests for both resistive switching and threshold characteristics are also performed to confirm switching stabilities.

The diversity of brain functions depend on the release of neurotransmitters in chemical synapses. The back gated three terminal field effect transistors (FETs) are auspicious candidates for the emulation of biological functions to recognize the proficient neuromorphic computing systems. In order to encourage the hysteresis loops, we treated the bottom side of MoTe₂ flake with deep ultraviolet light in ambient conditions. Here, we modulate the short-term and long-term memory effects due to the trapping and de-trapping of electron events in few layers of a MoTe₂ transistor. However, MoTe₂ FETs are investigated to reveal the time constants of electron trapping/de-trapping while applying the gate-voltage pulses. Our devices exploit the hysteresis effect in the transfer curves of MoTe₂ FETs to explore the excitatory/inhibitory post-synaptic currents (EPSC/IPSC), long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), spike timing/amplitude-dependent plasticity (STDP/SADP), and paired pulse facilitation (PPF). Further, the time constants for potentiation and depression is found to be 0.6 and 0.9 s, respectively which seems plausible for biological synapses. In addition, the change of synaptic weight in MoTe₂ conductance is found to be 41% at negative gate pulse and 38% for positive gate pulse, respectively. Our findings can provide an essential role in the advancement of smart neuromorphic electronics.

NiMnSn ferromagnetic shape memory alloys exhibit martensitic transformation at low temperatures, restricting their applications. Therefore, this is a key factor in improving the martensitic transformation temperature, which is effectively carried out by proper element doping. In this research, we investigated the martensitic transformation and magnetic properties of Ni₄₃Mn_46-x Sm_xSn₁₁ (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) alloys on the basis of structural and magnetic measurements. X-ray diffraction showed that the crystal structure transforms from the cubic L2₁ to the orthorhombic martensite and gamma (γ) phases. The reverse martensitic and martensitic transformations were indicated by exothermic and endothermic peaks in differential scanning calorimetry. The martensitic transformation temperature increased considerably with Sm doping and exceeded room temperature for Sm = 3 at. %. The Ni₄₃Mn₄₅SmSn₁₁ alloy exhibited magnetostructural transformation, leading to a large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature. The existence of thermal hysteresis and the metamagnetic behavior of Ni₄₃Mn₄₅SmSn₁₁ confirm the first-order magnetostructural transition. The magnetic entropy change reached 20 J·kg⁻¹·K⁻¹ at 266 K, and the refrigeration capacity reached ~162 J·Kg⁻¹, for Ni₄₃Mn₄₅SmSn₁₁ under a magnetic field variation of 0–5 T.