The rate limiting process and its activation energy in the forming process of a Cu/Ta2O5/Pt gapless-type atomic switch

Abstract

The rate limiting process in first resistive switching, called the “forming process”, is determined by measuring the switching time of an as-fabricated Cu/Ta2O5/Pt atomic switch as a function of the ambient temperature and the Ta2O5 thickness. The temperature dependence is well fitted by the Arrhenius equation, suggesting that a certain activation process dominates the switching phenomenon. The switching time increases linearly as the Ta2O5 thickness increases. The results herein clearly suggest that the rate limiting process is the drift of Cu cations in the Ta2O5 layer. We determine that the activation energy is 0.4 eV.