Cox Horatio R J, Sharpe Matthew K, McAleese Callum, Laitinen Mikko, Dulai Jeevan, Smith Richard, England Jonathan, Ng Wing H, Buckwell Mark, Zhao Longfei, Fearn Sarah, Mehonic Adnan, Kenyon Anthony J
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
Ion Beam Centre, Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, UK, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK.
Adv Mater. 2024 Dec;36(52):e2408437. doi: 10.1002/adma.202408437. Epub 2024 Oct 14.
Previous research on transistor gate oxides reveals a clear link between hydrogen content and oxide breakdown. This has implications for redox-based resistive random access memory (ReRAM) devices, which exploit soft, reversible, dielectric breakdown, as hydrogen is often not considered in modeling or measured experimentally. Here quantitative measurements, corroborated across multiple techniques are reported, that reveal ReRAM devices, whether manufactured in a university setting or research foundry, contain concentrations of hydrogen at levels likely to impact resistance switching behavior. To the knowledge this is the first empirical measurement depth profiling hydrogen concentration through a ReRAM device. Applying a recently-developed Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry analysis technique enables to measure hydrogen diffusion across the interfaces of SiO ReRAM devices as a result of operation. These techniques can be applied to a broad range of devices to further understand ReRAM operation. Careful control of temperatures, precursors, and exposure to ambient during fabrication should limit hydrogen concentration. Additionally, using thin oxynitride or TiO capping layers should prevent diffusion of hydrogen and other contaminants into devices during operation. Applying these principles to ReRAM devices will enable considerable, informed, improvements in performance.
先前对晶体管栅极氧化物的研究揭示了氢含量与氧化物击穿之间的明确联系。这对基于氧化还原的电阻式随机存取存储器（ReRAM）器件具有重要意义，这类器件利用软的、可逆的介电击穿，而在建模或实验测量中通常不考虑氢的影响。本文报道了通过多种技术得到证实的定量测量结果，这些结果表明，无论是在大学环境还是研究代工厂制造的ReRAM器件，其氢浓度水平可能会影响电阻切换行为。据了解，这是首次通过ReRAM器件对氢浓度进行实证测量深度剖析。应用最近开发的二次离子质谱分析技术能够测量由于操作导致的氢在SiO ReRAM器件界面间的扩散。这些技术可应用于广泛的器件，以进一步了解ReRAM的工作原理。在制造过程中仔细控制温度、前驱体和暴露于环境的情况应能限制氢浓度。此外，使用薄的氮氧化物或TiO覆盖层应能防止在操作过程中氢和其他污染物扩散到器件中。将这些原理应用于ReRAM器件将能够在性能方面实现显著且明智的改进。
