Thermal impact on the resistance switching properties in tantalum oxide based RRAM

In this paper, the switching layer thickness and temperature impacts on resistance switching polarity of tantalum oxide (TaO_x) based resistive random access memory (RRAM) have been investigated. Our results show that at room temperature unipolar behavior was activated in thick TaO_x but failed in thin TaO_x, while in 280 °C condition thin TaO_x layer RRAM can also show stable unipolar characteristics. For thick TaO_x device, the unipolar behavior is attributed to more heat accumulation in thicker switching layer. In 280 °C condition, stable unipolar characteristic of thin TaO_x device is due to extra ambient heat offered. In addition, thin TaO_x RRAM with SiO₂ buffer layer is also fabricated to investigate the heat accumulation impact on operation polarity of RRAM devices. These results are helpful in obtaining the insight on understanding the switching mechanism of TaO_x RRAM and improve the RRAM device performance and reliability capability.