Influence of Cu diffusion conditions on the switching of Cu–SiO2-based resistive memory devices

Abstract

This paper presents a study of Cu diffusion at various temperatures in thin SiO 2 films. Film composition and diffusion products were analyzed using Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy, Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry, X-ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy methods. We found a strong dependence of the diffused Cu concentration, which varied between 0.8 at.% and 10-3 at. %, on the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction and Raman studies revealed that Cu does not react with the SiO 2 network and remains in elemental form after diffusion. Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) resistive memory cells were fabricated with these Cu-diffused SiO 2 films as the active elements and device performance is presented and discussed in the context of the materials characteristics.

Microstructure and electrical properties of co-sputtered Cu embedded amorphous SiC

“…Recently, Cu NPs embedded dielectric materials have also attracted significant interest for non-volatile resistive memory (RM) applications [2,8]. It was reported that embedding metal NPs in the resistive switching dielectric layers can improve stability in e.g.…”

Redox processes in silicon dioxide thin films using copper microelectrodes

“…5 It has been also demonstrated that at higher temperatures (above 560 C) the initial switching voltage decreases by thermal diffusion of Cu. 6 Nevertheless, a detailed investigation on the WE kinetics and the transport of mass and charge in very thin SiO 2 films are still missing. In contrast to ion conductors such as Cu 2 S and Cu-GeS x used for RRAM cells, SiO 2 is initially free from Cu þ ions, and one needs first to dissolve electrochemically ions in order to be possible to operate the cell at all.…”

Chalcogenide Glass Radiation Sensor; Materials Development, Design and Device Testing

“…Ag photodissolution was also observed in other ChG materials such as Ge-Te, Ge-S, As-S, As-Se, As-Te, As-S-Te and As-Se-Te [15][16][17][18], and the maximum diffusion occurs along the composition of lowest density. Studies have shown that the diffusion in sulfide glasses is slower than selenide glasses [16,19]. As a result of changing the thickness and composition of ChG materials, the dynamic range of D th and D sat can be varied for different total ion doses.…”