Enhanced resistive switching performance of hafnium oxide-based devices: Effects of growth and annealing temperatures

Although hafnium oxide-based resistive switching (RS) devices have been explored extensively, extremely high operating voltages and currents hinder their application in low power operations. In this study, the growth temperature and annealing conditions have been varied to significantly improve the characteristics of hafnium oxide-based RS devices. Deposited using a rf magnetron sputtering at different temperatures, HfOx films are subsequently subjected to vacuum annealing to create a high density of oxygen vacancies. It is observed that the crystallinity, defect density, and RS device performance of these films are influenced by these thermal treatments. The HfOx film annealed at 450 degrees C exhibited bipolar RS with the substantial improvement in the device performance, such as electroforming, set/reset voltages, and operating currents as low as similar to 1 V, 0.5/- 0.5 V, and similar to 1 mu A, respectively, in addition to large ON/OFF ratio > 10(3), good endurance (> 10(3) cycles), and retention capability (> 10(4) s). The localized conductive filaments composed of oxygen vacancies are found to be responsible for the RS behavior in Al/HfOx/FTO devices, and the simple vacuum annealing approach considerably increases the proportion of oxygen vacancies. With the insights into the influence of annealing temperatures on the switching parameters, this work paves the way for the design of low-power devices for data storage applications. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Although hafnium oxide-based resistive switching (RS) devices have limitations in low power operations due to high operating voltages and currents, this study demonstrates that adjusting growth temperature and annealing conditions can significantly improve their characteristics. By depositing HfOx films at different temperatures and subjecting them to vacuum annealing, a high density of oxygen vacancies is created. The annealed HfOx film at 450 degrees C exhibits bipolar RS with improved device performance, including lower operating voltages and currents, large ON/OFF ratio, good endurance, and retention capability. The study also identifies the role of oxygen vacancies in the RS behavior and highlights the potential for low-power data storage applications.