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Stasner P, Kopperberg N, Schnieders K, Hennen T, Wiefels S, Menzel S, Waser R, Wouters DJ. Reliability effects of lateral filament confinement by nano-scaling the oxide in memristive devices. Nanoscale Horiz 2024; 9:764-774. [PMID: 38511616 DOI: 10.1039/d3nh00520h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Write-variability and resistance instability are major reliability concerns impeding implementation of oxide-based memristive devices in neuromorphic systems. The root cause of the reliability issues is the stochastic nature of conductive filament formation and dissolution, whose impact is particularly critical in the high resistive state (HRS). Optimizing the filament stability requires mitigating diffusive processes within the oxide, but these are unaffected by conventional electrode scaling. Here we propose a device design that laterally confines the switching oxide volume and thus the filament to 10 nm, which yields reliability improvements in our measurements and simulations. We demonstrate a 50% decrease in HRS write-variability for an oxide nano-fin device in our full factorial analysis of modulated current-voltage sweeps. Furthermore, we use ionic noise measurements to quantify the HRS filament stability against diffusive processes. The laterally confined filaments exhibit a change in the signal-to-noise ratio distribution with a shift to higher values. Our complementing kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of oxygen vacancy (re-)distribution for confined filaments shows improved noise behavior and elucidates the underlying physical mechanisms. While lateral oxide volume scaling down to filament sizes is challenging, our efforts motivate further examination and awareness of filament confinement effects in regards to reliability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Stasner
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
| | - Nils Kopperberg
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
| | - Kristoffer Schnieders
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Tyler Hennen
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
| | - Stefan Wiefels
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Stephan Menzel
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Rainer Waser
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 10 (PGI-10), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Dirk J Wouters
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
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Kopperberg N, Wiefels S, Liberda S, Waser R, Menzel S. A Consistent Model for Short-Term Instability and Long-Term Retention in Filamentary Oxide-Based Memristive Devices. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021; 13:58066-58075. [PMID: 34808060 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c14667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Major challenges concerning the reliability of resistive switching random access memories based on the valence change mechanism (VCM) are short-term instability and long-term retention failure of the programmed resistance state, particularly in the high resistive state. On the one hand, read noise limits the reliability of VCMs via comparatively small current jumps especially when looking at the statistics of millions of cells that are needed for industrial applications. Additionally, shaping algorithms aiming for an enlargement of the read window are observed to have no lasting effect. On the other hand, long-term retention failures limiting the lifetime of the programmed resistance states need to be overcome. The physical origin of these phenomena is still under debate and needs to be understood much better. In this work, we present a three-dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo simulation model where we implemented diffusion-limiting domains to the oxide layer of the VCM cell. We demonstrate that our model can explain both instability and retention failure consistently by the same physical processes. Further, we find that the random diffusion of oxygen vacancies plays an important role regarding the reliability of VCMs and can explain instability phenomena as the shaping failure as well as the long-term retention failure in our model. Additionally, the results of the simulations are compared with experimental data of read noise and retention investigations on ZrO2-based VCM devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils Kopperberg
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Stefan Wiefels
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Sergej Liberda
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Rainer Waser
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik II (IWE2) and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 10 (PGI-10), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Stephan Menzel
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut 7 (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany
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Lanza M, Waser R, Ielmini D, Yang JJ, Goux L, Suñe J, Kenyon AJ, Mehonic A, Spiga S, Rana V, Wiefels S, Menzel S, Valov I, Villena MA, Miranda E, Jing X, Campabadal F, Gonzalez MB, Aguirre F, Palumbo F, Zhu K, Roldan JB, Puglisi FM, Larcher L, Hou TH, Prodromakis T, Yang Y, Huang P, Wan T, Chai Y, Pey KL, Raghavan N, Dueñas S, Wang T, Xia Q, Pazos S. Standards for the Characterization of Endurance in Resistive Switching Devices. ACS Nano 2021; 15:17214-17231. [PMID: 34730935 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c06980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Resistive switching (RS) devices are emerging electronic components that could have applications in multiple types of integrated circuits, including electronic memories, true random number generators, radiofrequency switches, neuromorphic vision sensors, and artificial neural networks. The main factor hindering the massive employment of RS devices in commercial circuits is related to variability and reliability issues, which are usually evaluated through switching endurance tests. However, we note that most studies that claimed high endurances >106 cycles were based on resistance versus cycle plots that contain very few data points (in many cases even <20), and which are collected in only one device. We recommend not to use such a characterization method because it is highly inaccurate and unreliable (i.e., it cannot reliably demonstrate that the device effectively switches in every cycle and it ignores cycle-to-cycle and device-to-device variability). This has created a blurry vision of the real performance of RS devices and in many cases has exaggerated their potential. This article proposes and describes a method for the correct characterization of switching endurance in RS devices; this method aims to construct endurance plots showing one data point per cycle and resistive state and combine data from multiple devices. Adopting this recommended method should result in more reliable literature in the field of RS technologies, which should accelerate their integration in commercial products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Lanza
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rainer Waser
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-10), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik 2 (IWE2), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Daniele Ielmini
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano and IU.NET, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
| | - J Joshua Yang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | | | - Jordi Suñe
- Departament d'Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain
| | - Anthony Joseph Kenyon
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom
| | - Adnan Mehonic
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Spiga
- CNR-IMM, Unit of Agrate Brianza, Via C. Olivetti 2, Agrate Brianza (MB) 20864, Italy
| | - Vikas Rana
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-10), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Stefan Wiefels
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Stephan Menzel
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Ilia Valov
- Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Marco A Villena
- Applied Materials Inc., Via Ruini, Reggio Emilia 74L 42122, Italy
| | - Enrique Miranda
- Departament d'Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain
| | - Xu Jing
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
| | - Francesca Campabadal
- Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona-Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
| | - Mireia B Gonzalez
- Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona-Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
| | - Fernando Aguirre
- Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo de las Ingenierías-CONICET, Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UIDI-CONICET/FRBA-UTN), Buenos Aires, Medrano 951(C1179AAQ), Argentina
| | - Felix Palumbo
- Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo de las Ingenierías-CONICET, Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UIDI-CONICET/FRBA-UTN), Buenos Aires, Medrano 951(C1179AAQ), Argentina
| | - Kaichen Zhu
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Juan Bautista Roldan
- Departamento de Electrónica y Tecnología de Computadores, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Avd. Fuentenueva s/n, Granada 18071, Spain
| | - Francesco Maria Puglisi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria "Enzo Ferrari", Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via P. Vivarelli 10/1, Modena 41125, Italy
| | - Luca Larcher
- Applied Materials Inc., Via Ruini, Reggio Emilia 74L 42122, Italy
| | - Tuo-Hung Hou
- Department of Electronics Engineering and Institute of Electronics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
| | - Themis Prodromakis
- Centre for Electronics Frontiers, University of Southampton, Southampton SO171BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Yuchao Yang
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronic Devices and Circuits (MOE), Department of Micro/nanoelectronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Peng Huang
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronic Devices and Circuits (MOE), Department of Micro/nanoelectronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Tianqing Wan
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yang Chai
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Kin Leong Pey
- Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Nagarajan Raghavan
- Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Salvador Dueñas
- Department of Electronics, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 15, Valladolid E-47011, Spain
| | - Tao Wang
- Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Qiangfei Xia
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9292, United States
| | - Sebastian Pazos
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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Cho DY, Luebben M, Wiefels S, Lee KS, Valov I. Interfacial Metal-Oxide Interactions in Resistive Switching Memories. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2017; 9:19287-19295. [PMID: 28508634 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b02921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Metal oxides are commonly used as electrolytes for redox-based resistive switching memories. In most cases, non-noble metals are directly deposited as ohmic electrodes. We demonstrate that irrespective of bulk thermodynamics predictions an intermediate oxide film a few nanometers in thickness is always formed at the metal/insulator interface, and this layer significantly contributes to the development of reliable switching characteristics. We have tested metal electrodes and metal oxides mostly used for memristive devices, that is, Ta, Hf, and Ti and Ta2O5, HfO2, and SiO2. Intermediate oxide layers are always formed at the interfaces, whereas only the rate of the electrode oxidation depends on the oxygen affinity of the metal and the chemical stability of the oxide matrix. Device failure is associated with complete transition of short-range order to a more disordered main matrix structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deok-Yong Cho
- IPIT & Department of Physics, Chonbuk National University , Jeonju 54896, Korea
| | - Michael Luebben
- Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-7), Research Centre Juelich , Juelich 52425, Germany
| | - Stefan Wiefels
- Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-7), Research Centre Juelich , Juelich 52425, Germany
| | | | - Ilia Valov
- Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-7), Research Centre Juelich , Juelich 52425, Germany
- Institute for Materials in Electrical Engineering II, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen 52074, Germany
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