An overview of materials issues in resistive random access memory

TLDR

RRAM promises significant advantages over silicon Flash, with the switchable resistance material being the key determinant of memory performance. This review proposes general materials‑selection guidelines and summarizes recent materials‑science studies on RRAM, highlighting the role of computational approaches. It covers a range of resistance‑switching materials and their underlying mechanisms, and discusses how computational materials science can guide RRAM research. High‑throughput calculations and multi‑scale simulations can accelerate and make the design of new RRAM more cost‑effective.

Abstract

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is a very promising next generation non-volatile RAM, with quite significant advantages over the widely used silicon-based Flash memories. For RRAM, material with switchable resistance, working as the storage medium, is the most important part for the performance of the memory. In this review, as a start, some general hints for the materials selection are proposed. Then most recent studies on this emerging memory from the perspective of materials science are summarized: various materials with resistance switch (RS) behavior and the underlying mechanisms are introduced; as a complementary to the previous review articles, here the increasingly important role of computational materials science in the research of RRAM is presented and highlighted. By incorporating the framework of high-throughput calculation and multi-scale simulations, design process of new RRAM could be accelerated and more cost-effective.