Improved gradual resistive switching range and 1000× on/off ratio in HfOx RRAM achieved with a Ge2Sb2Te5 thermal barrier

Gradual switching between multiple resistance levels is desirable for analog in-memory computing using resistive random-access memory (RRAM). However, the filamentary switching of HfOx-based conventional RRAM often yields only two stable memory states instead of gradual switching between multiple resistance states. Here, we demonstrate that a thermal barrier of Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) between HfOx and the bottom electrode (TiN) enables wider and weaker filaments, by promoting heat spreading laterally inside the HfOx. Scanning thermal microscopy suggests that HfOx + GST devices have a wider heating region than control devices with only HfOx, indicating the formation of a wider filament. Such wider filaments can have multiple stable conduction paths, resulting in a memory device with more gradual and linear switching. The thermally enhanced HfOx + GST devices also have higher on/off ratio (>103) than control devices (<102) and a median set voltage lower by approximately 1 V (∼35%), with a corresponding reduction of the switching power. Our HfOx + GST RRAM shows 2× gradual switching range using fast (∼ns) identical pulse trains with amplitude less than 2 V.