Study on ion dynamics of hafnium oxide RRAM by electrode thermal effect

Abstract

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) has become one of the representatives of the next generation of nonvolatile memory because of its excellent performance, and the data reading function is caused by the growth and fracture of the conductive filament (CF) in the switch layer. Therefore, the study of the thermal properties of materials on the conductive mechanism is a step that cannot be ignored. In this paper, a numerical model of filament dissolution caused by the coupling effect of Joule heat and electric field in resistance elements is established. The influence of the thermal field on the electric field and ion mobility during device setup and reset is explained by solving partial differential equations. On this basis, the importance of electrode parameters for resistive switching behavior is emphasized. The results show that the best performance can be obtained at 298 K when TiN is selected as the top electrode material of the equipment. This work has deepened the understanding of RRAM resistance switch characteristics and has guiding significance for selecting memristor materials and promoting its industrialization process.

Keywords

• Resistive random-access memory (RRAM)
• Electrothermal physical model
• Resistance characteristics
• Conductive filament