A CMOS-based Characterisation Platform for Emerging RRAM Technologies

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel CMOS-based platform capable of characterizing up to one million emerging RRAM devices on-chip, enabling fast and large-scale testing crucial for memory device development.

Contribution

It introduces a scalable, on-chip characterization platform with integrated DACs and ADCs for rapid testing of resistive memory devices, supporting large arrays and wide resistance ranges.

Findings

Supports up to 1 million devices on-chip

Provides fast voltage programming and readout

Covers resistance range from 1kΩ to 10MΩ

Abstract

Mass characterisation of emerging memory devices is an essential step in modelling their behaviour for integration within a standard design flow for existing integrated circuit designers. This work develops a novel characterisation platform for emerging resistive devices with a capacity of up to 1 million devices on-chip. Split into four independent sub-arrays, it contains on-chip column-parallel DACs for fast voltage programming of the DUT. On-chip readout circuits with ADCs are also available for fast read operations covering 5-decades of input current (20nA to 2mA). This allows a device's resistance range to be between 1k$\Omega$ and 10M$\Omega$ with a minimum voltage range of $\pm$1.5V on the device.