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Atomic Layer Deposited Oxygen‐Deficient TaO x Layers for Electroforming‐Free and Reliable Resistance Switching Memory
Author(s) -
Kuzmichev Dmitry S.,
Lebedinskii Yuri Y.,
Hwang Cheol Seong,
Markeev Andrey M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201800429
Subject(s) - electroforming , electrode , materials science , resistive random access memory , layer (electronics) , oxygen , optoelectronics , atomic layer deposition , oxide , nanotechnology , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry
Oxygen‐deficient TaO x layers are grown by a radical‐enhanced atomic layer deposition (REALD) process on a chemically active bottom electrode (Ta) to create electroforming‐free resistance switching random access memory (ReRAM) cells. When the top electrode is Pt, the Ta/TaO x /Pt device shows a completely electroforming‐free behavior with a pulse‐switching induced endurance cycle of up to 6 × 10 6 cycles. This is due to the abundantly present oxygen vacancies within the TaO x layer, which eliminate the need to create further oxygen vacancies during the electroforming cycles in other types of oxide‐based ReRAM cells. The adoption of the Pt top electrode contributes to the suppression of the leakage current, making the switching reliable. When the top electrode is changed to the more production‐compatible Ru, which is also grown by another REALD, the devices show very mild electroforming behavior with an increased leakage current. Due to these slight decreases in the electrical performance, the switching endurance can be confirmed only up to 6 × 10 4 cycles with the help of an incremental step pulse programming technique.