AsianScientist (Aug. 13, 2014) – Next generation resistive random-access memory (RRAM) is now one step closer to reality with a new method to enhance the performance of resistive switching materials. This research has been published in the journal Surface Review and Letters.
Unlike conventional random access memory (RAM) used in integrated circuits and flash drives, RRAM depends on the formation of filaments through a switching material sandwiched between two electrodes. Non-volatile, and with the potential to be faster and smaller than RAM-based devices, RRAM technology has attracted both academic and industry attention.
However, variations in parameters of the switching material have limited the applications of RRAM. Researchers have tried to improve the resistive switching performances using methods such as doping the insulator film, using appropriate electrodes and inserting interlayer between the electrode and the insulator film.
In the present study, a research team led by Dr. Ji Zhenguo from the Hangzhou Dianzhi University investigated the effect of varying the thickness of the interlayer between the switching material and the electrodes in order to improve performance.
Using a Pt/TiOx/ZnO/n+-Si system, they found that forming voltages increase with increasing TiOx thickness, while the set and reset voltages were only weakly dependent on TiOx thickness. Furthermore, they found that while the TiOx interlayer improved the number of cycles the device could withstand, the number of cycles decreased as the thickness of the layers increased, with the optimal resistive switching characteristics at 5 nm thickness.
The article can be found at: Li L et al. (2014) Effects of TiOx Interlayer on Resistance Switching of Pt/TiOx/ZnO/n+-Si Structures.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: World Scientific Publishing Company.
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