Electrical evidence of unstable anodic interface in Ru/HfOx/TiN unipolar resistive memory

Unipolar resistive switching behaviors of Ru/HfOx/TiN devices with Ru as anode were investigated. Wide dispersion of switching operation parameters was observed. The conduction mechanisms in low and high resistance states of the devices were characterized to be Ohmic-like and tunneling, respectively. The band offset of the Ru/HfOx interface was extracted from the measured tunneling current versus voltage characteristics. Instability of the band offset at the anodic interface was observed and may be responsible for the wide fluctuation of the operation voltage in the Ru/HfOx/TiN device at a high resistance state. The possible mechanism for these unstable characteristics of band offset at the Ru/HfOx interface is also discussed. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.