Electronic Conduction Mechanism in Atom Switch Using Polymer Solid Electrolyte

Abstract

Low-temperature characterization of electrical transport on atom switches has been performed to clarify operation and conducting mechanisms. The low resistive (ON) state (< 400 Ω) shows metallic conduction accompanied with a high residual resistance. In the high resistive (OFF) state (> 10 8 ), the resistance exponentially increases with decreasing temperature due to Poole-Frenkel conduction. In the intermediate range (10 5 −10 7 Ω), the resistance has small temperature dependence since the electron tunneling via Cu residues in a solid electrolyte is dominant. The polymer solid electrolyte enables the complete collection of the Cu residues without degrading the electrolyte, resulting in forming-free operation and a high ON/OFF conductance ratio.Index Terms-Atom switch, Coulomb blockade, forming free, Poole-Frenkel (P-F) emission, resistive RAM (ReRAM).

0.5-V Highly Power-Efficient Programmable Logic using Nonvolatile Configuration Switch in BEOL

“…The OFF state persists for 10 years even when a DC voltage of 1 V and ambient temperature of 85C are applied. The ON state is also reliable for more than 3000 hours at 150C [8].…”

ON-state Reliability of Cu Atom Switch Under Current–Temperature Stress

“…However, introducing the new device results in significant new reliability challenges. Time-dependent dielectric breakdown and retention of atom switches have been discussed and improved by structural [11] and material [13] engineering. High OFF-state reliability has been secured by introducing a complementary atom switch (CAS) [12].…”

“…High OFF-state reliability has been secured by introducing a complementary atom switch (CAS) [12]. Cu-alloy and Ru-alloy electrodes have also been introduced to keep the ON-state retention high [13]- [15].…”

Single-crystalline metal filament-based resistive switching in a nitrogen-doped carbon film containing conical nanopores

“…filaments has been reported in twoterminal memristive devices with various switching media, 1,2 such as oxides, 3-9 chalcogenides, 10-13 silicon, 14 carbon, [15][16][17][18][19] and polymers. 20 An electroforming process is always necessary for the initial formation of metal filaments, switching the devices ON. A RESET process can switch the devices back to the OFF state.…”

“…4(d), we also see that the OFF state exhibits a tunneling behavior, since the resistance shows a weak dependence of temperature. 20 Then, the dissolved filament segment during the RESET process is only several nanometers in length. We can therefore deduce that for the device in an OFF or ON state, the Cu filaments, for the most part, keep the single-crystalline structure.…”