Self-Rectifying Characteristics Observed in O-Doped ZrN Resistive Switching Memory Devices Using Schottky Barrier Type Bottom Electrode

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the self-rectifying characteristics of $p$ -Si/O-doped ZrN/TiN structures in order to overcome a disturbance between neighboring cells in array structures. The proposed device shows a nonlinear selection characteristic and a Schottky diode property in the positive bias region. We also observed the rectifying region within −2 V, which suppresses the interference with neighboring cells that occurs during a reading operation. Any RS phenomena is not observed especially for the reverse bias sweep to reset the proposed device, which indicated that the proposed device has an intrinsic rectifying property. The proposed device shows the highest current ratio of $6\times 10 ^{2}$ at −4.5 V and a maximum current limiting capability in the bias region above −2 V. In addition, the O-doped ZrN memory device shows a stable retention up to 104 seconds at 125 °C as well as a high read margin of 380. Therefore, the proposed device suppresses interference in the read operation without additional selector elements, enabling stable memory operation.

Keywords

• O-doped ZrN
• self-rectifying RRAM
• Schottky barrier type bottom electrode
• read margin