Self-Compliant Bipolar Resistive Switching in SiN-Based Resistive Switching Memory

Sungjun Kim; Yao-Feng Chang; Min-Hwi Kim; Tae-Hyeon Kim; Yoon Kim; Byung-Gook Park

doi:10.3390/ma10050459

Self-Compliant Bipolar Resistive Switching in SiN-Based Resistive Switching Memory

Materials (Basel). 2017 Apr 26;10(5):459. doi: 10.3390/ma10050459.

Authors

Sungjun Kim¹, Yao-Feng Chang², Min-Hwi Kim³, Tae-Hyeon Kim⁴, Yoon Kim⁵, Byung-Gook Park⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. [email protected].
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758, USA. [email protected].
³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. [email protected].
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. [email protected].
⁵ Department of Nanoenergy Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea. [email protected].
⁶ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. [email protected].

Abstract

Here, we present evidence of self-compliant and self-rectifying bipolar resistive switching behavior in Ni/SiN_x/n⁺ Si and Ni/SiN_x/n⁺⁺ Si resistive-switching random access memory devices. The Ni/SiN_x/n⁺⁺ Si device's Si bottom electrode had a higher dopant concentration (As ion > 10¹⁹ cm^-3) than the Ni/SiN_x/n⁺ Si device; both unipolar and bipolar resistive switching behaviors were observed for the higher dopant concentration device owing to a large current overshoot. Conversely, for the device with the lower dopant concentration (As ion < 10¹⁸ cm^-3), self-rectification and self-compliance were achieved owing to the series resistance of the Si bottom electrode.

Keywords: memory; resistive switching; self-compliance; silicon nitride.