Thermal impact on the resistance switching properties in tantalum oxide based RRAM

In this paper, the switching layer thickness and temperature impacts on resistance switching polarity of tantalum oxide (TaO
_x
) based resistive random access memory (RRAM) have been investigated. Our results show that at room temperature unipolar behavior was activated in thick TaO
_x
but failed in thin TaO
_x
, while in 280 °C condition thin TaO
_x
layer RRAM can also show stable unipolar characteristics. For thick TaO
_x
device, the unipolar behavior is attributed to more heat accumulation in thicker switching layer. In 280 °C condition, stable unipolar characteristic of thin TaO
_x
device is due to extra ambient heat offered. In addition, thin TaO
_x
RRAM with SiO
₂
buffer layer is also fabricated to investigate the heat accumulation impact on operation polarity of RRAM devices. These results are helpful in obtaining the insight on understanding the switching mechanism of TaO
_x
RRAM and improve the RRAM device performance and reliability capability.