A resistive switching device based on breakdown and anodic reoxidization of thin SiO2 on Si-based electrodes using CeOx buffer layer

Bipolar resistive switching characteristics of CeOx layer on Si-based bottom electrodes (BE) are presented. Owing to the formation and the presence of a thin SiO2 interfacial layer (SiO2-IL) between the CeOx layer and BE, the set process is triggered by a local breakdown at the thin SiO2-IL due to large differences in dielectric constants. Reset process, on the other hand, is obtained by local anodic oxidation to the breakdown spots by the high oxygen ion conductivity of the CeOx layer. High insulating properties of SiO2-IL enables obtaining a resistance ratio of over 105 at high-resistive-state to low-resistive-state. A model to explain the resistance ratio has been proposed using initial trap density of SiO2-IL. Moreover, forming-free feature can be achieved with NiSi2 BE.

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