Multilevel resistance switching in Cu/TaOx/Pt structures induced by a coupled mechanism

We report on multilevel bipolar resistance switching in Cu/amorphous-TaO(x)/Pt structures controlled by a coupled mechanism. The devices could be reproducibly programmed into three nonvolatile resistance states, and the on/off ratios between all neighboring states are >20. It is speculated that the switching between the high resistance state and the intermediate resistance state originates from a phase transformation between Ta(2)O(5) and TaO(2), while the low resistance state is induced by the formation of Cu filaments. This structure might be promising for developing multilevel logic and memory devices with high reliability. It may also serve as a model system for investigating the coupling effect between different switching mechanisms. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3399152]