title: Bias-polarity-dependent resistance switching in W/SiO2/Pt and W/SiO2/Si/Pt structures.
abstract: SiO2 is the most significantly used insulator layer in semiconductor devices. Its functionality was recently extended to resistance switching random access memory, where the defective SiO2 played an active role as the resistance switching (RS) layer. In this report, the bias-polarity-dependent RS behaviours in the top electrode W-sputtered SiO2-bottom electrode Pt (W/SiO2/Pt) structure were examined based on the current-voltage (I-V) sweep. When the memory cell was electroformed with a negative bias applied to the W electrode, the memory cell showed a typical electronic switching mechanism with a resistance ratio of ~100 and high reliability. For electroforming with opposite bias polarity, typical ionic-defect-mediated (conducting filament) RS was observed with lower reliability. Such distinctive RS mechanisms depending on the electroforming-bias polarity could be further confirmed using the light illumination study. Devices with similar electrode structures with a thin intervening Si layer between the SiO2 and Pt electrode, to improve the RS film morphology (root-mean-squared roughness of ~1.7 nm), were also fabricated. Their RS performances were almost identical to that of the single-layer SiO2 sample with very high roughness (root-mean-squared roughness of ~10 nm), suggesting that the reported RS behaviours were inherent to the material property.
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Information Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Film Electronic &Communication Devices, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Information Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Film Electronic &Communication Devices, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
authors.forename: Xiang Yuan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Information Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Film Electronic &Communication Devices, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Xing Long
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Information Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Film Electronic &Communication Devices, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
authors.forename: Xiwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Cheol Seong
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Information Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Film Electronic &Communication Devices, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
authors.forename: Jinshi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao