J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (1): 1-11.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2015.10.018

• Orginal Article •     Next Articles

Physical Mechanism and Performance Factors of Metal Oxide Based Resistive Switching Memory: A Review

Cong Ye1, Jiaji Wu1, Gang He2, Jieqiong Zhang3, Tengfei Deng1, Pin He1, Hao Wang1   

  1. 1 Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei Key Laboratory of Ferroelectric and Dielectric Materials and Devices, Faculty of Physics and Electronic Science, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China;
    2 School of Physics and Materials Science, Radiation Detection Materials &
    Device Lab, Anhui University, Hefei 230039, China;
    3 Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
  • Received:2015-07-19 Revised:2015-08-26 Online:2016-01-19
  • Supported by:
    The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61474039 and 51572002), and the Nature Science Foundation (Key Project) of Hubei Province (No. 2015CFA052).

Abstract: This review summarizes the mechanism and performance of metal oxide based resistive switching memory. The origin of resistive switching (RS) behavior can be roughly classified into the conducting filament type and the interface type. Here, we adopt the filament type to study the metal oxide based resistive switching memory, which considers the migration of metallic cations and oxygen vacancies, as well as discuss two main mechanisms including the electrochemical metallization effect (ECM) and valence change memory effect (VCM). At the light of the influence of the electrode materials and switching layers on the RS characteristics, an overview has also been given on the performance parameters including the uniformity, endurance, the retention, and the multi-layer storage. Especially, we mentioned ITO (indium tin oxide) electrode and discussed the novel RS characteristics related with ITO. Finally, the challenges resistive random access memory (RRAM) device is facing, as well as the future development trend, are expressed.

Key words: RRAM (resistive random access memory), Transition metal oxide, Conductive filament, Resistive switching