Improved Resistive Switching Characteristics by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment in Tri-Layer HfO<sub>2</sub>/Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/HfO<sub>2</sub> RRAM

In this study, a tri-layer HfO2/Al2O3/HfO2 (7/6/7 nm) structure was fabricated using a cost-effective RF sputtering process and treated with oxygen plasma to serve as the resistive switching (RS) active layer for RRAM devices. Compared with a single-layer HfO2 and an untreated tri-layer structure, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shyh-Jer Huang, Wei-Hsuan Hsieh, Rong-Ming Ko, Zi-Hao Wang, Yan-Kuin Su
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10974951/
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Summary:In this study, a tri-layer HfO2/Al2O3/HfO2 (7/6/7 nm) structure was fabricated using a cost-effective RF sputtering process and treated with oxygen plasma to serve as the resistive switching (RS) active layer for RRAM devices. Compared with a single-layer HfO2 and an untreated tri-layer structure, the oxygen plasma-treated device exhibited significantly enhanced performance. These improvements include a higher ON/OFF current ratio, extended endurance exceeding 1600 cycles, and stable retention beyond <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{4}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> seconds. Furthermore, multilevel resistive switching behavior was reliably demonstrated by modulating the compliance current. The results highlight the effectiveness of oxygen plasma treatment in improving switching uniformity and electrical stability, while maintaining a scalable and industry-friendly fabrication process. This work underscores the potential of plasma-treated tri-layer structures for high-density, multi-level non-volatile memory applications.
ISSN:2169-3536