Low current resistive switching in Cu-SiO2 cells

Resistive switching in Ir/SiO2/Cu memory cells was investigated. The proposed switching mechanism is the formation and dissolution of a Cu filament. Under positive bias, Cu cations migrate through SiO2 and are reduced at the counterelectrode forming a filament. The filament is dissolved under reverse bias. The write current can be reduced down to 10 pA which is four orders of magnitude below published values and shows the potential of extremely low power-consuming memory cells. Furthermore, a comparison of the charge flow in the high resistance state and the energy for writing is given for write currents between 25 pA and 10 nA. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.