Microscopic understanding of the low resistance state retention in HfO<inf>2</inf> and HfAlO based RRAM

Abstract

We study in detail the impact of alloying HfO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> with Al (Hf <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1−x</inf> Al <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2x</inf> O <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+x</inf> ) on the device characteristics through materials characterization, electrical measurements and atomistic simulation. Indeed, movements of individual oxygen atoms inside the dielectric are at the heart of RRAM operations. Therefore, we performed diffusion barrier calculations relative to the oxygen vacancy (VO) movement involved in R <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">on</inf> data retention. Calculations are performed at the best level using ab initio techniques. Our study provides an insight on the improved R <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">on</inf> stability of Hf <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1−x</inf> Al <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2x</inf> O <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+x</inf> RRAM, via a simple explanation based on its higher atomic density (atoms/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> ) associated with shorter bond lengths between cations and anions in the presence of Al.