A Survey of Metal Oxides and Top Electrodes for Resistive Memory Devices

Abstract

ABSTRACTMetal-insulator-metal (MIM) resistive switching devices are being pursued for a number of applications, including non-volatile memory and high density/low power computing. Reported resistive switching devices vary greatly in the choice of metal oxide and electrode material. Importantly, the choice of both the metal oxide and electrode material can have significant impact on device performance, their ability to switch, and the mode of switching (unipolar, bipolar, nonpolar) that results. In this study, three metal oxides (Cu2O, HfOx, and TiOx) were deposited onto copper bottom electrodes (BEs). Four different top electrode (TE) materials (Ni, Au, Al, and Pt) were then fabricated on the various metal oxides to form MIM structures. Devices were then characterized electrically to determine switching performance and behavior. Our results show that the metal TE plays a large role in determining whether or not the MIM structure will switch resistively and what mode of switching (unipolar, bipolar, or non-polar) is observed.