Compliance current effect on switching behavior of hafnium oxide based RRAM

In this study, we compared the basic switching behaviors of HfO
₂
, Al
₂
O
₃
and HfAlO
_x
(Hf:Al=9:1) based RRAM with Ti top electrode by setting various compliance currents (1mA, 5mA, 10mA, 15mA). The resistance ratio of HfO
₂
based RRAM (20 → 320) increases with compliance current whereas it drops not obviously for Al
₂
O
₃
based RRAM (85→54). HfAlO
_x
(Hf:Al=9:1)) based one has the best resistance ratio (300-440) and resistance stability. All low resistance state (LRS) resistance values of three samples are around 100Ω with large compliance current while there is a difference in HRS resistance which causes the ratio difference accordingly. The dominant mechanism of resistive switching is the formation and rupture of the conductive filament composed of oxygen vacancies. The appropriate compliance current selection and doping technology to high-k materials should be considered in further study.