Reduced operation current of oxygen-doped ZrN based resistive switching memory devices fabricated by the radio frequency sputtering method

In this work, we report the feasibility of resistive switching (RS) properties of oxygen-doped zirconium nitride (O-doped ZrN) films with platinum (Pt) and platinum silicide (PtSi) bottom electrode (BE), produced by a sputtering method. Compared to O-doped ZrN using Pt BE, when Pt/p-Si was used as BE, the foaming voltage slightly increased, but the operation current was reduced by about two orders. In particular, the average reset current of the O-doped ZrN memory cells was reduced to 50 µA, which can delay deterioration of the element, and reduces power consumption. Therefore, the use of PtSi as the BE of the O-doped ZrN films is considered highly effective in improving reliability through reduction of operating current of the memory cells.