Improved resistive switching reliability by using dual-layer nanoporous carbon structure

Abstract

We optimized the diameter and microgeometry of preformed conductive filaments (CFs) to improve the switching reliability of copper/nanoporous amorphous carbon (a-C)/platinum memory devices. Forming-free devices were obtained because of the introduction of preformed CFs into the nanoporous layer during the copper electrode evaporation process. The switching fluctuation decreased with the increasing preformed CF size in a certain range; however, the device with stronger preformed CFs suffered from high current in the first RESET process. Furthermore, to achieve both high switching uniformity and low power consumption, a dual-layer structure was proposed to regulate the microgeometry of preformed CFs. Compared with those of a pristine device and single-layer nanoporous device, the fluctuation of high/low resistance values was further suppressed to 26% and 21%, respectively. In addition, Resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices exhibited a fast switching speed (<50 ns), excellent endurance (>105 cycles), and long retention time (>105 s at 85 °C). These results reveal the key role of preformed CF optimization in resistive switching performance improvement, providing an effective approach to develop high-performance RRAM devices.