中国物理B ›› 2013, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (6): 67202-067202.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/22/6/067202

所属专题： TOPICAL REVIEW — Magnetism, magnetic materials, and interdisciplinary research

• SPECIAL TOPIC --- Non-equilibrium phenomena in soft matters • 上一篇    下一篇

Resistance switching in oxides with inhomogeneous conductivity

尚大山a b, 孙继荣a, 沈保根a, Wuttig Matthiasb   

  1. a Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    b I. Physikalisches Institut (IA), RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
  • 收稿日期:2013-03-21 修回日期:2013-04-04 出版日期:2013-05-01 发布日期:2013-05-01
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11004235, 11274363, 51072224, and 11134007), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB930803), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (for S.D.S).

Resistance switching in oxides with inhomogeneous conductivity

Shang Da-Shang (尚大山)a b, Sun Ji-Rong (孙继荣)a, Shen Bao-Gen (沈保根)a, Wuttig Matthiasb   

  1. a Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    b I. Physikalisches Institut (IA), RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
  • Received:2013-03-21 Revised:2013-04-04 Online:2013-05-01 Published:2013-05-01
  • Contact: Shang Da-Shang E-mail:shangdashan@iphy.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11004235, 11274363, 51072224, and 11134007), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB930803), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (for S.D.S).

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摘要： Electric-field-induced resistance switching (RS) phenomena have been studied for over 60 years in metal/dielectrics/metal structures. In these experiments a wide range of dielectrics have been studied including binary transition metal oxides, perovskite oxides, chalcogenides, carbon- and silicon-based materials, as well as organic materials. RS phenomena can be used to store information and offer an attractive performance, which encompasses fast switching speeds, high scalability, and the desirable compatibility with Si-based complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor fabrication. This is promising for nonvolatile memory technology, i.e. resistance random access memory (RRAM). However, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism is still lacking. This impedes a faster product development as well as an accurate assessment of the device performance potential. Generally speaking, RS occurs not in the entire dielectric but only in a small, confined region, which results from the local variation of conductivity in dielectrics. In this review, we focus on the RS in oxides with such an inhomogeneous conductivity. According to the origin of the conductivity inhomogeneity, the RS phenomena and their working mechanism are reviewed by dividing them into two aspects: interface RS, based on the change of contact resistance at metal/oxide interface due to the change of Schottky barrier and interface chemical layer, and bulk RS, realized by the formation, connection, and disconnection of conductive channels in the oxides. Finally the current challenges of RS investigation and the potential improvement of the RS performance for the nonvolatile memories are discussed.

关键词: resistance switching, inhomogeneous conductivity, transition metal oxide

Abstract: Electric-field-induced resistance switching (RS) phenomena have been studied for over 60 years in metal/dielectrics/metal structures. In these experiments a wide range of dielectrics have been studied including binary transition metal oxides, perovskite oxides, chalcogenides, carbon- and silicon-based materials, as well as organic materials. RS phenomena can be used to store information and offer an attractive performance, which encompasses fast switching speeds, high scalability, and the desirable compatibility with Si-based complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor fabrication. This is promising for nonvolatile memory technology, i.e. resistance random access memory (RRAM). However, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism is still lacking. This impedes a faster product development as well as an accurate assessment of the device performance potential. Generally speaking, RS occurs not in the entire dielectric but only in a small, confined region, which results from the local variation of conductivity in dielectrics. In this review, we focus on the RS in oxides with such an inhomogeneous conductivity. According to the origin of the conductivity inhomogeneity, the RS phenomena and their working mechanism are reviewed by dividing them into two aspects: interface RS, based on the change of contact resistance at metal/oxide interface due to the change of Schottky barrier and interface chemical layer, and bulk RS, realized by the formation, connection, and disconnection of conductive channels in the oxides. Finally the current challenges of RS investigation and the potential improvement of the RS performance for the nonvolatile memories are discussed.

Key words: resistance switching, inhomogeneous conductivity, transition metal oxide

中图分类号:  (Mixed conductivity and conductivity transitions)

  • 72.60.+g
72.20.-i (Conductivity phenomena in semiconductors and insulators) 73.40.Cg (Contact resistance, contact potential) 73.40.Rw (Metal-insulator-metal structures)