Influence of Cu diffusion conditions on the switching of Cu–SiO2-based resistive memory devices

Abstract This paper presents a study of Cu diffusion at various temperatures in thin SiO 2 films and the influence of diffusion conditions on the switching of Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) devices formed from such Cu-doped films. Film composition and diffusion products were analyzed using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy methods. We found a strong dependence of the diffused Cu concentration, which varied between 0.8 at.% and 10 − 3 at.%, on the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction and Raman studies revealed that Cu does not react with the SiO 2 network and remains in elemental form after diffusion for the annealing conditions used. PMC resistive memory cells were fabricated with such Cu-diffused SiO 2 films and device performance, including the stability of the switching voltage, is discussed in the context of the material characteristics.