Resistive Switching Properties of ZrO2 Film by Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition for Non-volatile Memory Applications

Resistive switching properties of nanoscale zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) thin film deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) have been investigated. A resistive memory device has been formed with a 10-nm-thick ZrO2 film as an active switching layer sandwiched between an aluminum top electrode and a silver bottom electrode. Bipolar resistive switching characteristics were demonstrated by current-voltage measurements with a read memory window of 6.6 V, an ON/OFF current ratio of nearly 10(5) , and a retention time of 10(4) s. Current conduction at low resistance states follows Ohm's law while at a high-resistance state governed by space charge limited conduction. These indicate that the switching mechanism is attributed to filamentary conduction. A SPICE model was applied to model the device, with simulation measurement data in good agreement. This study proves the potential applications of PE-ALD ZrO2 for non-volatile resistive random access memories.

Automated summary

The resistive switching properties of nanoscale ZrO2 thin films deposited by PE-ALD were investigated, demonstrating bipolar resistive switching characteristics with promising parameters for memory applications. The study also presented a SPICE model to simulate the device behavior, showing good agreement with experimental data and confirming the potential of PE-ALD ZrO2 for non-volatile resistive random access memories.