Tunneling Electroresistance Effect with Diode Characteristic for Cross-Point Memory

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Solid State Physics

Background:

• Cross-point memory architectures (CPMA) offer high-density integration using memristors.
• Sneak currents causing crosstalk are a significant drawback in CPMA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a sneak current-free resistive switching characteristic in a ferroelectric tunnel diode (FTD) memristor for CPMA.
• To utilize a novel ferroelectric quadrangle and triangle barrier switch concept.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an Au/BaTiO3 (5 nm)/Nb-doped SrTiO3 (100) ferroelectric tunnel diode memristor.
• Investigation of reversible ferroelectric potential barrier shape changes (quadrangle to triangle).
• Analysis of carrier transport mechanisms including direct tunneling, Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, and thermionic emission.

Main Results:

• The FTD memristor exhibited desirable memristive effects with high nonlinearity and diode characteristics.
• Reversible switching between quadrangle and triangle barrier shapes was achieved.
• Different carrier transport mechanisms were utilized sequentially.

Conclusions:

• The developed FTD memristor effectively suppresses sneak currents in CPMA.
• This technology demonstrates the feasibility of sneak current-free, high-density CPMA.