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Investigation of electrical characteristics of memory cells based on self-forming conducting nanostructures in a form of the TiN-SiO2-W open sandwich structure

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Abstract

The results of experimental investigations of electroforming and quasi-static current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of formed TiN-SiO2-W open sandwich structures in comparison to the Si-SiO2-W structures are presented. It is shown that similar memory and switching effects, which are associated with self-forming the conducting nanostructures on the surface of the open end of the dielectric film (silicon dioxide) about 20 nm thick, are observed in them. However, the features of the structures with the lower TiN electrode are the noticeably larger current, the lower threshold switching voltage from the low-conducting state into the high-conducting state, and a flatter I–V characteristic at voltages below the threshold one. These features can be explained by the decrease in the spreading resistance from the conducting structure, which is formed during electroforming, into the material of the lower electrode for titanium nitride compared to silicon (their resistivity values differ by a factor of 4) and the lower potential barrier at the TiN-SiO2 interface compared with the Si-SiO2 interface. The cell of energy-independent electrically reprogrammable memory with the TiN-SiO2-W structure possesses the better technical characteristics and manufacturability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics and Technology, Yaroslavl Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Universitetskaya 21, Yaroslavl, 150007, Russia

    V. M. Mordvintsev & S. E. Kudryavtsev

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  1. V. M. Mordvintsev
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  2. S. E. Kudryavtsev
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Correspondence to V. M. Mordvintsev.

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Original Russian Text © V.M. Mordvintsev, S.E. Kudryavtsev, 2013, published in Mikroelektronika, 2013, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 93–104.

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Mordvintsev, V.M., Kudryavtsev, S.E. Investigation of electrical characteristics of memory cells based on self-forming conducting nanostructures in a form of the TiN-SiO2-W open sandwich structure. Russ Microelectron 42, 68–78 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063739713010034

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063739713010034

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