Carrier Transport and Multilevel Switching Mechanism for Chromium Oxide Resistive Random-Access Memory

Abstract

This article investigates the carrier transport phenomenon and multilevel switching mechanism of Cr(2)O(3)-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) with Pt/Cr(2)O(3)/TiN structure. Before the forming process, the interfacial Schottky barrier dominates the carrier transport. The barrier heights of Pt/Cr(2)O(3) and Cr(2)O(3)/TiN are 0.7 and 0.96 eV, respectively. After the forming process, RRAM at a low resistance state follows the Ohmic conduction. While RRAM is switched to a high resistance state during the reset process, the Frenkel-Poole emission becomes a dominant conduction mechanism. The multilevel resistance states were achieved by applying corresponding reset voltages to the device for controlling the trap levels of the Cr(2)O(3) layer. (C) 2010 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3518710] All rights reserved.