Abstract
This study investigates the resistive switching characteristics and underlying mechanism in 2D layered hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) dielectric films using conductive atomic force microscopy. A combination of bipolar and threshold resistive switching is observed consistently on multi-layer h-BN/Cu stacks in the low power regime with current compliance (Icomp) of less than 100 nA. Standard random telegraph noise signatures were observed in the low resistance state (LRS), similar to the trends in oxygen vacancy-based RRAM devices. While h-BN appears to be a good candidate in terms of switching performance and endurance, it performs poorly in terms of retention lifetime due to the self-recovery of LRS state (similar to recovery of soft breakdown in oxide-based dielectrics) that is consistently observed at all locations without requiring any change in the voltage polarity for Icomp ~1–100 nA.
Highlights
Over the last decade, there has been an exponential growth in studies relating to graphene based nanoelectronic devices due to its unique properties such as ballistic transport at room temperature, mechanical flexibility, and favorable thermo-mechanical stability at high temperatures[14,15,16]
The objective of this study is to focus on this regime to characterize the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) dielectric and to use the conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) tip as a localized electrode, eliminating the need for deposition of a top metal electrode
There are only a few studies undertaken in ultra-high vacuum (UHV)[31,32] and most previous CAFM studies have an inherent uncertainty in the electrical measurements because of contamination at the tip-sample contact
Summary
There has been an exponential growth in studies relating to graphene based nanoelectronic devices due to its unique properties such as ballistic transport at room temperature, mechanical flexibility, and favorable thermo-mechanical stability at high temperatures[14,15,16]. It is necessary to study the defect generation mechanism and switching mechanism of h-BN on graphene before the system can be used as 2D dielectric material for logic and memory devices. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.R. few studies which have probed the critical field strength of h-BN (~4–12 MV cm−1)[22,23] and have reported some preliminary understanding of the mechanism of dielectric breakdown in h-BN. Few studies which have probed the critical field strength of h-BN (~4–12 MV cm−1)[22,23] and have reported some preliminary understanding of the mechanism of dielectric breakdown in h-BN These studies point to a possible removal of material during hard breakdown and suggest that breakdown is a layer-by-layer process for h-BN24. There are only a few studies undertaken in ultra-high vacuum (UHV)[31,32] and most previous CAFM studies have an inherent uncertainty in the electrical measurements because of contamination at the tip-sample contact
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