An atomic force microscopic study of resistive switching resonance activation in ZrO$_{2}$(Y) films

Local resistive switching in the contact of an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe to ZrO$_{2}$(Y) films (including those with a Та$_{2}$O$_{5}$ sublayer) on conducting substrates was studied. Switching was performed by triangular voltage pulses with the imposition of a high-frequency sinusoidal signal. The dependence of the difference in the current strength through the AFM probe in the low-and high-resistance States of dielectric films on the frequency of the high-frequency sinusoidal signal was observed at frequencies corresponding to the characteristic frequency of jumps of О$^{2-}$ ions - for oxygen vacancies in ZrO$_{2}$(Y) and Та$_{2}$O$_{5}$ at 300K. The effect is associated with resonant activation of О$^{2-}$ ion migration along with oxygen vacancies by an external high-frequency electric field.