Impact of potential barrier on electronic resistive switching performance based on Al/TiOx/Al structure

The thickness-dependent electronic bipolar resistive switching (eBRS) behaviors in Al/TiOx./Al (ATA) structure were examined based on the I-V sweep and endurance test. The trap mediated space charge limited conduction was confirmed through the fitting of the I-V curves. The ATA devices showed the different endurance trends and performance with the TiOx thickness. ATA with 80 nm TiOx maintained the longest endurance cycles compared with 50 nm and 110 nm_TiOx. For 110 nm_TiOx, the slope of the trap-filling region increased with RS cycles which differed from other two cases, suggesting the RS is closely related to the electron trapping and detrapping rather than oxygen ion. Overall, the endurance performance based on eBRS was affected by the formation of interfacial layer (IL) of AlOx during TiOx deposition, wherein the IL AlOx increased with increasing TiOx deposition time due to the higher oxidation potential of Al. The IL AlOx plays a role in determining the potential barrier height that adjusts the amount of trapped and detrapped electrons, is presented. In addition, the effect of the potential barrier at the interface of top electrode (TE) on endurance performance was also investigated by inserting a 1 nm_Al.