Bipolar resistance switching in high-performance Cu/ZnO:Mn/Pt nonvolatile memories: active region and influence of Joule heating

Manganese-doped ZnO dielectric films sandwiched between Cu and Pt electrodes were prepared and investigated for nonvolatile resistive memory applications. These structures exhibit promising bipolar resistive switching (RS) behavior with a large ON/OFF ratio (∼103), suitable threshold voltages (1.4 and −0.7 V for SET and RESET, respectively), long retention (>104 s at 85 °C) and low write current (10 μA). A study on the ZnO:Mn thickness dependence of threshold voltages reveals that RS should be an interfacial effect rather than bulk behavior. By elevating current compliance during the SET process, an anomalous transition from bistable memory switching to monostable threshold switching was observed, which is attributed to the instability of conductive filaments induced by Joule heating effects. Apart from this, fast voltage sweep cycles without efficient heat dissipation were also found to accelerate the hard dielectric breakdown of the device, reflecting the impact of accumulative Joule heating. These results reveal the possible influences of Joule heating effects on bipolar resistance switching and thus the necessity of avoiding them in future high-density memory applications. Conceivable solutions are considered to be reducing the operating currents and improving the heat dissipation of memory devices based on our experiments.