Effect of the Material of Electrodes on Electroformation and Properties of Memristors Based on Open Metal–SiO2–Metal Sandwich Structures

Abstract

Memristors (elements of nonvolatile electrically reprogrammable memory) based on electro-formed open sandwich-metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structures are fabricated using thin-film technology. Studies of the electroforming process and the features of the current-voltage characteristics (CVCs) after it was carried out for structures with various electrode materials showed that in the case of a tungsten anode, it was possible to minimize the probability of electrical breakdown during electroforming and subsequent oper-ation of the memory elements. This is valid for any position of the anode in the MDM structure: both upper and lower. However, it is experimentally shown that tungsten is not the optimal material. The production of the anode from molybdenum retains all the advantages of the design with tungsten, and in addition, it leads to a noticeable decrease in the electroforming voltage, which can increase the reliability of this process. The results obtained can be used to optimize the design of the memory element.