$I$–$V$ Characteristics of Antiparallel Resistive Switches Observed in a Single $\hbox{Cu/TaO}_{x}\hbox{/Pt}$ Cell

Abstract

A Cu/TaO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> /Pt resistive cell can transition from a high-resistance state to a low-resistance state by applying positive or negative set voltages. The set operation with positive bias is due to the electrochemical formation of a Cu conductive filament (CF), whereas the set operation with negative bias is attributed to the electroreduction of solid electrolyte and formation of an oxygen vacancy <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">O</sub> CF. Both CFs can be reset by Joule heating. Since set voltages of the <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">O</sub> CF have higher absolute values than those of the Cu CF, the switching based on Cu and <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">O</sub> CFs can be decoupled within the same device. The device is inherently an antiparallel resistive switch circuit that can be consecutively switched between the Cu and <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">O</sub> CFs.