Effects of heat dissipation on unipolar resistance switching in Pt/NiO/Pt capacitors

TL;DR

This study explores how heat dissipation influences unipolar resistance switching in Pt/NiO/Pt capacitors, revealing that electrode thickness affects switching behavior through filament stability related to temperature management.

Contribution

It demonstrates the critical role of heat dissipation in resistance switching and shows how electrode thickness impacts filament stability and switching modes.

Findings

Thinner electrodes lead to threshold switching due to less efficient heat dissipation.

Thicker electrodes support unipolar resistance memory switching.

Heat management is crucial for reliable resistance random access memory operation.

Abstract

We fabricated Pt/NiO/Pt capacitor structures with various bottom electrode thicknesses, $t_{BE}$, and investigated their resistance switching behaviors. The capacitors with $t_{BE} \geq 50$ nm exhibited typical unipolar resistance memory switching, while those with $t_{BE} \leq 30$ nm showed threshold switching. This interesting phenomenon can be explained in terms of the temperature-dependent stability of conducting filaments. In particular, the thinner $t_{BE}$ makes dissipation of Joule heat less efficient, so the filaments will be at a higher temperature and become less stable. This study demonstrates the importance of heat dissipation in resistance random access memory.