Improvement of Resistive Switching Characteristics of Titanium Oxide Based Nanowedge RRAM through Nickel Silicidation

Dong Keun Lee, Min Hwi Kim, Suhyun Bang, Tae Hyeon Kim, Yeon Joon Choi, Kyungho Hong, Sungjun Kim, Seongjae Cho, Jong Ho Lee, Byung Gook Park

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low operation power and high endurance of resistive random access memory (RRAM) as a synaptic device are critical parameters for in-memory computing applications. Yet, high power consumption and reliability issue of silicon bottom electrode (BE) RRAM hinder its commercialization as a synaptic device. In this experiment, we report on the improvement of switching characteristics of silicon BE nanowedge RRAM via the Nickel (Ni) silicidation process. Existing highly doped Si-BE forms a SiO2 interfacial layer (IL) during a switching layer deposition and increases an effective thickness, leading to increased voltage drop within the RRAM device and large cycle-to-cycle variations. By siliciding the Si-BE with Ni, the issue of IL formation is removed and the resistance of metallic NiSi BE is further reduced compared to Arsenic (As+) doped Si BE. Both dc and ac analyses of the fabricated NiSi-BE nanowedge RRAM have shown the reduction of overshoot and switching current down to 55% of the original value. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis convinced the formation of NiSi BE. In addition, gradual switching characteristics, uniform low resistance state (LRS), and better endurance of NiSi-BE nanowedge RRAM enable the Si compatible approach to fabricate a large-size RRAM cross-point array for utilization in hardware-implemented neuromorphic computing applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9293139
Pages (from-to)438-442
Number of pages5
JournalIEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
Volume68
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IEEE.

Keywords

  • Endurance
  • interfacial layer (IL)
  • nanowedge resistive random access memory (RRAM)
  • neuromorphic application
  • nickel silicidation
  • synaptic device

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