Ruthenium based RRAM for low variability switching and scaling for contemporary computing systems

As there is a strong push towards faster computation, the use of transistor based computational units comes with a bottleneck which limits its performance and makes scaling difficult. To solve this, several research teams and foundries are trying to find an alternative. One of the promising device technology candidates for this is the resistive random-access memory (RRAM). In this paper, we have studied and explored one such Ruthenium based RRAM from different perspectives including memristive and neuromorphic properties. The device stack comprises of RuO₂/AlO_x/TiN. We have explored the switching mechanism of the device and examined its variability as a function of various current compliances during DC switching. Finally, we explore the synaptic properties of this same stack in terms of potentiation and depression of conductance states under gradually changing voltage sweeps.