Impact of the HfO^sub 2^/Al^sub 2^O^sub 3^ stacking order on unipolar RRAM

• Published in: Microelectronic engineering Vol. 178; p. 168
• Main Authors: Mallol, MM, Gonzalez, MB, Campabadal, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier BV 25-06-2017
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Current voltage characteristics; Devices; Electric contacts; Electric properties; Electrical properties; Hafnium oxide; Low resistance; Point contact; Stacking; Switching; Temperature
• EISSN: 1873-5568
• ISSN: 0167-9317

In this work, Ni/HfO2/Al2O3/n+-Si and Ni/Al2O3/HfO2/n+-Si RRAM devices have been investigated with the purpose to determine the role of the HfO2/Al2O3 stacking order in the electrical properties and the resistive switching phenomena in unipolar RRAM devices. The study of the current-voltage characteristics at different temperatures has shown that Poole-Frenkel and Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling are the main conduction mechanisms in fresh devices, while the quantum point contact conduction dominates in the low resistance state. Furthermore, the resistive switching behaviour has been investigated for more than 103 cycles. The results show that there is no significant impact of the stacking order on the resistive switching properties.