A Fully Transparent Resistive Memory for Harsh Environments

Multi-Level Switching of Al-Doped HfO2 RRAM with a Single Voltage Amplitude Set Pulse

In this paper, the resistive switching characteristics in a Ti/HfO2: Al/Pt sandwiched structure are investigated for gradual conductance tuning inherent functions. The variation in conductance of the device under different amplitudes and voltage pulse widths is studied. At the same time, it was found that the variation in switching parameters in resistive random-access memory (RRAM) under impulse response is impacted by the initial conductance states. The device was brought to a preset resistance value range by energizing a single voltage amplitude pulse with a different number of periodicities. This is an efficient and simple programming algorithm to simulate the strength change observed in biological synapses. It exhibited an on/off of about 100, an endurance of over 500 cycles, and a lifetime (at 85 °C) of around 105 s. This multi-level switching two-terminal device can be used for neuromorphic applications to simulate the gradual potentiation (increasing conductance) and inhibition (decreasing conductance) in an artificial synapse.

A Multi-level Memristor Based on Al-Doped HfO2 Thin Film

Non-volatile memory (NVM) will play a very important role in the next-generation digital technologies, including the Internet of things. The metal-oxide memristors, especially based on HfO₂, have been favored by lots of researchers because of its simple structure, high integration, fast operation speed, low power consumption, and high compatibility with advanced (complementary metal oxide silicon) CMOS technologies. In this paper, a 20-level stable resistance states Al-doped HfO₂-based memristor is presented. Its cycles endurance, data retention time, and resistance ratio are larger than 10³, > 10⁴ s, and > 10, respectively.

Conductive bridge random access memory characteristics of SiCN based transparent device due to indium diffusion

In this work, the transparent bipolar resistive switching characteristics of a SiCN-based ITO/SiCN/AZO structure due to In diffusion from ITO is studied. The SiCN based device is found to be 80% transparent in the visible wavelength region. This device, with AZO as both top and bottom electrodes, does not show any RRAM property due to deposition of the high quality O₂-free SiCN film. Replacing the AZO top electrode with ITO in this device results in good resistive switching (RS) characteristics with a high on/off ratio and long retention. Replacing the SiCN film with ZrO₂ also results in excellent RS characteristics due to the formation of an oxygen vacancies filament inside the ZrO₂ film. A resistance ratio of on/off is found to be higher in the SiCN based device compared to that of the ZrO₂ device. Diffusion of In from ITO into the SiCN film on application of high positive voltage during forming can be attributed to the occurrence of RS in the device, which is confirmed by the analyses of energy dispersive spectroscopy and secondary-ion mass spectrometry. This study shows a pathway for the fabrication of CBRAM based transparent devices for non-volatile memory application.

Customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors tuned by oxidation conditions

The memristor is a promising candidate for the next generation non-volatile memory, especially based on HfO2-x, given its compatibility with advanced CMOS technologies. Although various resistive transitions were reported independently, customized binary and multi-level memristors in unified HfO2-x material have not been studied. Here we report Pt/HfO2-x/Ti memristors with double memristive modes, forming-free and low operation voltage, which were tuned by oxidation conditions of HfO2-x films. As O/Hf ratios of HfO2-x films increase, the forming voltages, SET voltages, and Roff/Ron windows increase regularly while their resistive transitions undergo from gradually to sharply in I/V sweep. Two memristors with typical resistive transitions were studied to customize binary and multi-level memristive modes, respectively. For binary mode, high-speed switching with 103 pulses (10 ns) and retention test at 85 °C (>104 s) were achieved. For multi-level mode, the 12-levels stable resistance states were confirmed by ongoing multi-window switching (ranging from 10 ns to 1 μs and completing 10 cycles of each pulse). Our customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors show high-speed switching, multi-level storage and excellent stability, which can be separately applied to logic computing and neuromorphic computing, further suitable for in-memory computing chip when deposition atmosphere may be fine-tuned.

Transparent Memory For Harsh Electronics

As a new class of non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (RRAM) offers not only superior electronic characteristics, but also advanced functionalities, such as transparency and radiation hardness. However, the environmental tolerance of RRAM is material-dependent, and therefore the materials used must be chosen carefully in order to avoid instabilities and performance degradation caused by the detrimental effects arising from environmental gases and ionizing radiation. In this work, we demonstrate that AlN-based RRAM displays excellent performance and environmental stability, with no significant degradation to the resistance ratio over a 100-cycle endurance test. Moreover, transparent RRAM (TRRAM) based on AlN also performs reliably under four different harsh environmental conditions and 2 MeV proton irradiation fluences, ranging from 10¹¹ to 10¹⁵ cm^-2. These findings not only provide a guideline for TRRAM design, but also demonstrate the promising applicability of AlN TRRAM for future transparent harsh electronics.

Direct Observation of Indium Conductive Filaments in Transparent, Flexible, and Transferable Resistive Switching Memory

Electronics with multifunctionalities such as transparency, portability, and flexibility are anticipated for future circuitry development. Flexible memory is one of the indispensable elements in a hybrid electronic integrated circuit as the information storage device. Herein, we demonstrate a transparent, flexible, and transferable hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)-based resistive switching memory with indium tin oxide (ITO) and graphene electrodes on soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The ITO/hBN/graphene/PDMS memory device not only exhibits excellent performance in terms of optical transmittance (∼85% in the visible wavelength), ON/OFF ratio (∼480), retention time (∼5 × 10⁴ s) but also shows robust flexibility under bending conditions and stable operation on arbitrary substrates. More importantly, direct observation of indium filaments in an ITO/hBN/graphene device is found via ex situ transmission electron microscopy, which provides critical insight on the complex resistive switching mechanisms.

Direct Observation of Conducting Filaments in Tungsten Oxide Based Transparent Resistive Switching Memory

Transparent nonvolatile memory has great potential in integrated transparent electronics. Here, we present highly transparent resistive switching memory using stoichiometric WO₃ film produced by cathodic electrodeposition with indium tin oxide electrodes. The memory device demonstrates good optical transmittance, excellent operative uniformity, low operating voltages (+0.25 V/-0.42 V), and long retention time (>10⁴ s). Conductive atomic force microscopy, ex situ transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy experiments directly confirm that the resistive switching effects occur due to the electric field-induced formation and annihilation of the tungsten-rich conductive channel between two electrodes. Information on the physical and chemical nature of conductive filaments offers insightful design strategies for resistive switching memories with excellent performances. Moreover, we demonstrate the promising applicability of the cathodic electrodeposition method for future resistive memory devices.