Direct Observation of Localized Radial Oxygen Migration in Functioning Tantalum Oxide Memristors

Suhas Kumar; Catherine E Graves; John Paul Strachan; Emmanuelle Merced Grafals; Arthur L David Kilcoyne; Tolek Tyliszczak; Johanna Nelson Weker; Yoshio Nishi; R Stanley Williams

doi:10.1002/adma.201505435

Direct Observation of Localized Radial Oxygen Migration in Functioning Tantalum Oxide Memristors

Adv Mater. 2016 Apr 13;28(14):2772-6. doi: 10.1002/adma.201505435. Epub 2016 Feb 2.

Authors

Suhas Kumar^{1

2}, Catherine E Graves¹, John Paul Strachan¹, Emmanuelle Merced Grafals¹, Arthur L David Kilcoyne³, Tolek Tyliszczak³, Johanna Nelson Weker⁴, Yoshio Nishi², R Stanley Williams¹

Affiliations

¹ Hewlett Packard Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
² Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
³ Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.

PMID: 26833926
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201505435

Abstract

Oxygen migration in tantalum oxide, a promising next-generation storage material, is studied using in operando X-ray absorption spectromicroscopy. This approach allows a physical description of the evolution of conduction channel and eventual device failure. The observed ring-like patterns of oxygen concentration are modeled using thermophoretic forces and Fick diffusion, establishing the critical role of temperature-driven oxygen migration.

Keywords: RRAM; memristors; oxygen migration; spectromicroscopy; thermophoresis.