Simulation of multilevel switching in electrochemical metallization memory cells

We report on a simulation model for bipolar resistive switching in cation-migration based memristive devices. The model is based on the electrochemical driven growth and dissolution of a metallic filament. The origin of multilevel switching is proposed to be direct tunneling between the growing filament and the counter electrode. An important result of our parameter simulation studies is that different materials show the same experimental multilevel behavior. Our model fully reproduces the experimental data and allows for an explanation of the transition from bipolar to nonpolar switching. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3673239]