Ti-electrode effects of NiO based resistive switching memory with Ni insertion layer

Effects of Ti top electrode on unipolar resistive switching characteristics are investigated for NiO based resistive switching memory with Ni-inserting layer, compared with those for Pt-electrode. Current-voltage curves for forming process are almost identical for Ti-Ni-NiO-Pt and Pt-Ni-NiO-Pt structure, which may suggest that Ti does not chemically react with NiO. However, I-V curves for reset and set operation with Ti top electrode show improved resistive switching behaviors, such as reduction of reset current and less variation of both high and low resistance states. In order to understand the mechanism for improved resistive switching properties, electro-thermal simulation is performed, which shows that improvement in resistive switching characteristics is ascribed to reduced heat flow through top electrode resulting from lower thermal conductivity of Ti as compared to Pt. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3697691]