Electrical AFM for the analysis of resistive switching

Resistive switching (RS), the property of reversible changes in electrical resistance of a metal/insulator/metal cell upon electrical stimulation, has been widely studied in the last few decades for non-volatile memories and, more recently, for logic, alternative computation and sensor purposes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been widely used to characterize switching behaviors and understand their underpinning mechanisms due to its unique capability and versatility for highly localized in situ and ex situ studies. The present chapter provides a brief introduction to the physics of RS and AFM schemes used to study RS, followed by an overview of recent research on RS performed by means of AFM. A particular emphasis is given to innovative AFM techniques and AFM-based studies of significant scientific contribution to the field of RS in the last few decades.