Fabrication and Characterization of Nanoscale NiO Resistance Change Memory (RRAM) Cells With Confined Conduction Paths

This paper introduces a novel structure for filamentary-conduction-type resistance change memory. The new structure utilizes the fringing field from the top metal electrode to effectively confine the position of the filaments in the cell. Nanoscale (100-50 nm) memory cells are fabricated using nickel oxide (NiO) thin film as the resistance-switching layer to demonstrate the feasibility and functionality of the new structure. The fabricated nanoscale memory cells achieved low reset current (100-200 μA), narrower distribution in low-resistance states, and higher on/off ratio than those of the standard structure. In addition, good scalability down to 50 nm was demonstrated.