Communication—Impact of Filament Instability in an Ag2S-Based Conductive-Bridge RAM for Cross-Point Selector Applications

Abstract

We show that the motion of Ag atoms in an Ag2S-based conductive bridge RAM system can be utilized for threshold-type selector applications. We found that the instability of an Ag filament could be increased in low current operation, where only few limited Ag ions are allowed to form a filament, and this resulting small filament enables the transition of a non-volatile memory system to a volatile mode. Furthermore, the enhanced activity of Ag atoms at elevated temperatures promotes the self-dissolution process when the bias is removed. As a result, threshold switching behavior with suppressed hysteresis can be achieved.