Nanoscale CuO solid-electrolyte-based conductive-bridging, random-access memory cell with a TiN liner

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Physical Society Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 116 - 121
• Main Authors: Lee, Jong-Sun, Kim, Dong-Won, Kim, Hea-Jee, Jin, Soo-Min, Song, Myung-Jin, Kwon, Ki-Hyun, Park, Jea-Gun, Jalalah, Mohammed, Al-Hajry, Ali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Physical Society 2018; Springer Nature B.V; 한국물리학회
• Subjects: Commercialization; Diffusion barriers; Electrolytes; Electrolytic cells; Endurance; Filaments; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Pulse duration; Random access memory; Theoretical; 물리학; Diffusion barrier; Conductive-bridge; Endurance; TiN liner; Nanoscale device; Random access memory
• ISSN: 0374-4884; 1976-8524
• DOI: 10.3938/jkps.72.116

The Conductive-bridge random-access memory (CBRAM) cell is a promising candidate for a terabit-level non-volatile memory due to its remarkable advantages. We present for the first time TiN as a diffusion barrier in CBRAM cells for enhancing their reliability. CuO solid-electrolyte-based CBRAM cells implemented with a 0.1-nm TiN liner demonstrated better non-volatile memory characteristics such as ~ 10 6 AC write/erase endurance cycles with 100-μs AC pulse width and a long retention time of ~ 7.4-years at 85 °C. In addition, the analysis of Ag diffusion in the CBRAM cell suggests that the morphology of the Ag filaments in the electrolyte can be effectively controlled by tuning the thickness of the TiN liner. These promising results pave the way for faster commercialization of terabit-level non-volatile memories.