Temperature-dependent studies of the electrical properties and the conduction mechanism of HfOx-based RRAM

The conduction mechanism of HfOx-based RRAM is investigated by analyzing the I–V characteristics of HfOx-based RRAM devices at different temperatures ranging from 350 K down to 40 K. Electrical conduction of RRAM is found to be strongly dependent on the resistance state of the device, electric field, and temperature. At relatively high electric field (E > 3 MV/cm), Poole-Frenkel conduction explains our measured temperature dependence at limited temperature (T > 200 K) and bias ranges while trap-assisted tunneling accounts for the temperature-insensitive conduction regime (T < 100 K). It is also concluded that the more resistive RRAM device shows weaker dependence on temperature.