Conduction Mechanism and Improved Endurance in HfO(2)-Based RRAM with Nitridation Treatment

A nitridation treatment technology with a urea/ammonia complex nitrogen source improved resistive switching property in HfO(2)-based resistive random access memory (RRAM). The nitridation treatment produced a high performance and reliable device which results in superior endurance (more than 10(9) cycles) and a self-compliance effect. Thus, the current conduction mechanism changed due to defect passivation by nitrogen atoms in the HfO(2) thin film. At a high resistance state (HRS), it transferred to Schottky emission from Poole-Frenkel in HfO(2)-based RRAM. At low resistance state (LRS), the current conduction mechanism was space charge limited current (SCLC) after the nitridation treatment, which suggests that the nitrogen atoms form Hf–N–Ox vacancy clusters (V(o) (+)) which limit electron movement through the switching layer.