Cycle-to-cycle intrinsic RESET statistics in HfO2-based unipolar RRAM devices

Abstract

The statistics of the RESET voltage (VRESET) and the RESET current (IRESET) of PtHfO2Pt resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices operated under unipolar mode are analyzed. The experimental results show that both the distributions of IRESET and VRESET are strongly influenced by the distribution of initial resistance in the ON state (RON), which is related to the size of the conductive filament (CF) before RESET. By screening the statistical data into different resistance ranges, both the distributions of IRESET and VRESET are shown to be compatible with a Weibull model. Contrary to previous reports for NiO-based RRAM, the Weibull slopes of the IRESET and VRESET are demonstrated to be independent of RON. This is an indication that the RESET point, defined in this letter as the point of maximum current, corresponds to the initial phase of CF dissolution. On the other hand, given that the scale factor of the VRESET distribution (VRESET63) is roughly independent of RON, the scale factor of the IRESET (IRESET63) is inversely proportional to R ON. This is analogous to what was found in NiO-based RRAM and it is consistent with the thermal dissolution model of RESET. Our results highlight the intrinsic link between the SET and RESET statistics and the need for controlling the variation of ON-state resistance to reduce the variability of the RESET voltage and current. © 1980-2012 IEEE.