On the bipolar resistive-switching characteristics of Al₂O₃- and HfO₂-based memory cells operated in the soft-breakdown regime
- imec, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)
- KU Leuven, Department of Physics and Astronomy, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)
In this article, we investigate extensively the bipolar-switching properties of Al₂O₃- and HfO₂-based resistive-switching memory cells operated at low current down to <1 μA. We show that the switching characteristics differ considerably from those typically reported for larger current range (>15 μA), which we relate as intrinsic to soft-breakdown (SBD) regime. We evidence a larger impact of the used switching-oxide in this current range, due to lower density of oxygen-vacancy (V{sub o}) defects in the SBD regime. In this respect, deep resetting and large memory window may be achieved using the stoichiometric Al₂O₃ material due to efficient V{sub o} annihilation, although no complete erasure of the conductive-filament (CF) is obtained. We finally emphasize that the conduction may be described by a quantum point-contact (QPC) model down to very low current level where only a few V{sub o} defects compose the QPC constriction. The large switching variability inherent to this latter aspect is mitigated by CF shape tuning through adequate engineering of an Al₂O₃\HfO₂ bilayer.
- OSTI ID:
- 22305770
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 13; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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