Affiliation:
1. Department of Electronics Engineering, Chungnam National University 2nd Engineering Building, #274 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea
Abstract
In this study, the bipolar switching behaviors in ZnO/HfO2 bilayer resistive random-access memory (RRAM), depending on different metal top electrodes (TE), are analyzed. For this purpose, devices with two types of TE–TiN/Ti and Pd, which have varying oxygen affinities, are fabricated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that ZnO has a hexagonal wurtzite structure, and HfO2 exhibits both monoclinic and orthorhombic phases. The average grain sizes are 10.9 nm for ZnO and 1.55 nm for HfO2. In regards to the electrical characteristics, the I–V curve, cycling test, and voltage stress are measured. The measurement results indicate that devices with TiN/Ti TE exhibit lower set and higher reset voltage and stable bipolar switching behavior. However, a device with Pd TE demonstrates higher set and lower reset voltage. This phenomenon can be explained by the Gibbs free energy of formation (∆Gf°). Additionally, the Pd TE device shows unstable bipolar switching characteristics, where unipolar switching occurs simultaneously during the cycling test. This instability in devices with Pd TE could potentially lead to soft errors in operation. For guaranteeing stable bipolar switching, the oxygen affinity of material for TE should be considered in regards to ZnO/HfO2 bilayer RRAM.
Funder
Chungnam National University
Reference31 articles.
1. Semiconductor quantum dots for memories and neuromorphic computing systems;Lv;Chem. Rev.,2020
2. Self-assembling crystalline peptide microrod for neuromorphic function implementation;Lv;Matter,2021
3. Ferroelectric coupling for dual-mode non-filamentary memristors;Gao;Appl. Phys. Rev.,2022
4. Improved synaptic behavior under identical pulses using AlOx/HfO2 bilayer RRAM array for neuromorphic systems;Woo;IEEE Electron Device Lett.,2016
5. Yu, S., Wu, Y., Chai, Y., Provine, J., and Wong, H.-S.P. (2011, January 25–27). Characterization of switching parameters and multilevel capability in HfOx/AlOx bi-layer RRAM devices. Proceedings of the 2011 International Symposium on VLSI Technology, Systems and Applications, Hsinchu, Taiwan.