Correlation between filament distribution and resistive switching properties in resistive random access memory consisting of binary transition-metal oxides

Large variation in basic memory properties is a serious issue that hinders the practical use of ReRAMs. This study revealed that one of the main factors causing variation is the presence of multiple filaments in each memory cell. An operating filament switches to another filament having the smallest set voltage at each instant of switching. We propose a resistive switching model that takes the presence of multiple filaments into consideration. A Monte Carlo simulation based on the resistive switching model reproduces the Vset distribution. The dependence of on the number of switching cycles was predicted by the model and confirmed experimentally.