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Effects of Bottom Electrode Materials on the Resistive Switching Characteristics of HfO2-Based RRAM Devices

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Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of our systematic investigations of the resistive switching characteristics of HfO2-based metal–insulator–metal structures using four different metal bottom electrode (BE) materials, namely Au, Al, Pt and Cu. Ag is used as the top electrode for all these resistive random access memory devices. On one hand, Au and Pt show lower set and reset voltages, whereas the Pt electrode has a higher resistance ratio (Roff/Ron) ~ 105). On the other hand, Al and Cu exhibit multilevel switching during the reset process. Thus, the oxygen affinity of the BE is expected to result in the formation of an interfacial layer with the active (HfO2) layer. Furthermore, conduction mechanisms have been studied for the various regions in the high resistance state (HRS) curves of all these devices. It is found that the Poole–Frenkel effect is more dominant at higher voltages (> 1 V) in the HRS curve. Therefore, it is essential to elucidate the appropriate BE material and optimum active switching layer to understand the conduction mechanisms for the resistive switching phenomenon.

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Acknowledgments

N. Arun thanks UGC-NET for providing the fellowship (JRF and SRF) and NASI for RA. APP thanks the National Academy of Sciences, India, Prayagraj (Allahabad), for the award of NASI Sr Scientist Platinum Jubilee Fellowship. We thank IUAC, New Delhi, for financial support and for access to its facilities. Special thanks to Dr. Sunil Ojha, IUAC, for his support in performing the RBS studies and for discussions. We thank the Centre for Nanotechnology (CFN), University of Hyderabad, for providing necessary characterization facilities. We also thank DST-PURSE (India), UGC-NRC and UGCSAP- DRS-I, CASEST, SOP, UOH programmes for support.

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  1. School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500 046, India

    N. Arun, S. V. S. Nageswara Rao & A. P. Pathak

  2. Centre for Advanced Studies in Electronics Science and Technology (CASEST), School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500 046, India

    N. Arun & S. V. S. Nageswara Rao

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Arun, N., Nageswara Rao, S.V.S. & Pathak, A.P. Effects of Bottom Electrode Materials on the Resistive Switching Characteristics of HfO2-Based RRAM Devices. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 1541–1551 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-10136-5

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