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Development of amorphous SiC based resistive memories

Development of amorphous SiC based resistive memories
Development of amorphous SiC based resistive memories
As Flash memory is approaching physical scaling limit, there is great interest in the research of the next generation non-volatile memory. In addition to replacing Flash memory in data storage applications, the next generation non-volatile memory is also expected to have improved performance, especially more cycle endurance and faster read/write operation, so that it may eventually be the “universal" memory. Resistive memory (RM) is widely considered to be the overall most promising emerging non-volatile memory. This project focused RMs based on Cu and amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) following the recent reports of excellent retention and stabilities of such RMs, which was attributed to the advantageously low Cu diffusion rate in SiC. Material properties, namely chemical composition, structural properties and electrical conduction properties of the sputtering deposited a-SiC and a-SiC/Cu solid electrolytes were firstly analysed in this project. This project has then developed Cu/a-SiC RMs with via-stack and crossbar structures, with a-SiC and a-SiC/Cu as solid electrolytes and Au, W and TiN as counter electrodes. The switching characteristics of the obtained devices have then been thoroughly investigated. All devices based on Cu and a-SiC with different structure and material configurations have shown repeated resistive switching behaviour, with each batch showing certain unique features in their switching behaviour. Nonpolar resistive switching was observed in the Cu/a-SiC/Au and Cu/a-SiC:Cu/Au via-stack devices, while coexistence of bipolar and unipolar switching was observed in RMs with TiN and W counter electrodes. Our devices also exhibited significantly improved ON/OFF current ratio and great state retention performance. Furthermore, the switching mechanisms and conduction mechanism of these RMs were analysed based on their I-V characteristics. These results suggest promising application potentials for RMs based on Cu and a-SiC.
Zhong, Le
d4fc47dd-402d-48db-8e7e-9337484155ef
Zhong, Le
d4fc47dd-402d-48db-8e7e-9337484155ef
Jiang, Liudi
374f2414-51f0-418f-a316-e7db0d6dc4d1

Zhong, Le (2014) Development of amorphous SiC based resistive memories. University of Southampton, Engineering and the Environment, Doctoral Thesis, 207pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

As Flash memory is approaching physical scaling limit, there is great interest in the research of the next generation non-volatile memory. In addition to replacing Flash memory in data storage applications, the next generation non-volatile memory is also expected to have improved performance, especially more cycle endurance and faster read/write operation, so that it may eventually be the “universal" memory. Resistive memory (RM) is widely considered to be the overall most promising emerging non-volatile memory. This project focused RMs based on Cu and amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) following the recent reports of excellent retention and stabilities of such RMs, which was attributed to the advantageously low Cu diffusion rate in SiC. Material properties, namely chemical composition, structural properties and electrical conduction properties of the sputtering deposited a-SiC and a-SiC/Cu solid electrolytes were firstly analysed in this project. This project has then developed Cu/a-SiC RMs with via-stack and crossbar structures, with a-SiC and a-SiC/Cu as solid electrolytes and Au, W and TiN as counter electrodes. The switching characteristics of the obtained devices have then been thoroughly investigated. All devices based on Cu and a-SiC with different structure and material configurations have shown repeated resistive switching behaviour, with each batch showing certain unique features in their switching behaviour. Nonpolar resistive switching was observed in the Cu/a-SiC/Au and Cu/a-SiC:Cu/Au via-stack devices, while coexistence of bipolar and unipolar switching was observed in RMs with TiN and W counter electrodes. Our devices also exhibited significantly improved ON/OFF current ratio and great state retention performance. Furthermore, the switching mechanisms and conduction mechanism of these RMs were analysed based on their I-V characteristics. These results suggest promising application potentials for RMs based on Cu and a-SiC.

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More information

Published date: August 2014
Organisations: University of Southampton, Engineering Mats & Surface Engineerg Gp

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 372440
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372440
PURE UUID: 0f3151e8-3171-4131-b5b1-3e86b7bf556f
ORCID for Liudi Jiang: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3400-825X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Dec 2014 14:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:12

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Contributors

Author: Le Zhong
Thesis advisor: Liudi Jiang ORCID iD

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