Control of filament size and reduction of reset current below 10 mu A in NiO resistance switching memories

Resistive-switching memory (RRAM) is receiving a growing deal of research interest as a possible solution for high-density, 3D nonvolatile memory technology. One of the main obstacle toward size reduction of the memory cell and its scaling is the typically large current I(reset) needed for the reset operation. In fact, a large I(reset) negatively impacts the scaling possibilities of the select diode in a cross-bar array structure. Reducing I(reset) is therefore mandatory for the development of high-density RRAM arrays. This work addresses the reduction of I(reset) in NiO-based RRAM by control of the filament size in 1 transistor-1 resistor (1T1R) cell devices. I(reset) is demonstrated to be scalable and controllable below 10 mu A. The significance of these results for the future scaling of diode-selected cross-bar arrays is finally discussed.