Impact of tungsten oxidation conditions on the performance of Al2O3/WOx-based CBRAM devices

In this paper, we assess the impact of different W oxidation conditions on the electrical performance of Cu/Al2O3/WOx-based CBRAM devices. While HR-TEM characterization carried out on samples with three different oxidation conditions reveals that WOx is always in the crystalline phase in our oxidation temperature range, higher oxidation temperature leads to denser and thicker oxides. By performing DC and AC electrical characterization, we demonstrate that a careful engineering of the W oxidation conditions enables to boost the performance of these devices. In particular, we prove that a trade-off between density and thickness must be pursued in order to enlarge the memory window and extend the endurance lifetime with short (10ns) pulses. Display Omitted Impact of W oxidation conditions on Cu/Al2O3/WOx-based CBRAM is investigated.Higher oxidation temperature induces thicker and denser WOx.Devices with thicker WOx show smaller memory window in DC & AC switching modes.In a limited range, denser WOx is beneficial for the switching.