Effect of AlN layer on the resistive switching properties of TiO2 based ReRAM memory devices

Abstract

The present study reports the resistive switching behaviour in Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) material, with possible implementations in non volatile memory device. The Cu/TiO2/Pt memory device exhibit uniform and stable bipolar resistive switching behaviour. The current-voltage (I-V) analysis shows two discrete resistance states, the High Resistance State (HRS) and the Low Resistance State (LRS). The effect of an additional AlN layer in the resistive memory cell is also investigated. The Cu/TiO2/AlN/Pt device shows a multilevel (tri-state) resistive switching. Multilevel switching is facilitated by ionic and metallic filament formation, and the nature of the formed filaments is confirmed by performing a resistance vs. temperature measurement. The bilayer device shows improved reliability over the single layer device. The formation of high thermal conductive interfacial oxy-nitride (AlON) layer is the main reasons for the enhancement of resistive switching properties in Cu/TiO2/AlN/Pt cell. The performance of device was measured in terms of endurance and retention, which exhibits good endurance over 105 cycles and long retention time of 105 s at 125 °C. The above result suggests the feasibility of Cu/TiO2/AlN/Pt devices for multilevel non volatile ReRAM application.