Super Nonlinear Mixed Ionic Electronic Conducting Thinfilm Selector for Crosspoint Array

Abstract

Thin film selector is an indispensable part for high density memory and memristor arrays to avoid the sneak path problem in crosspoint architecture. Although significant efforts have been devoted to developing novel thin-film selectors, it remains a great challenge in achieving good switching performance in the selectors to satisfy diverse memory elements. In this work, we utilized high-defect-density chalcogenide glass in conjunction with high mobility metal element to achieve a super nonlinear selective switching. The proposed thin-film selector based on the mixed ionic electronic conducting material (MIEC) exhibits superior selecting performance including excellent nonlinearity (< 5 mV/dev), ultra-low leakage (< 10 fA), and bidirectional operation. A switching model is proposed, and the in-depth understanding of the selective switching mechanism offers an insight of switching dynamics for MIEC thin-film selector. This work opens a new direction of selector design by combining high mobility elements and high-defect-density chalcogenide glasses, which can be extended to other materials with similar properties.