Electrical bistable devices using composites of zinc sulfide nanoparticles and poly-(N-vinylcarbazole)*

N-dodecanethiol capped zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanocrystals were synthesized by the one-pot approach and blended with poly (N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) to fabricate electrical bistable devices. The corresponding devices did exhibit electrical bistability and negative differential resistance (NDR) effects. A large ON/OFF current ratio of 104 at negative voltages was obtained by applying different amplitudes of sweeping voltage. The observed conductance switching and the negative differential resistance are attributed to the electric-field-induced charge transfer between the nanocrystals and the polymer, and the charge trapping/detrapping in the nanocrystals.