The effect of Al and Ni top electrodes in resistive switching behaviors of Yb₂O₃-based memory cells

In this letter, the effect of Al and Ni top electrodes in resistive switching behavior of Al/Yb₂O₃/TaN and Ni/Yb ₂O₃/TaN memory devices is proposed. The Al/Yb ₂O₃/TaN memory device demonstrates no such switching performance as applying bias on both top and bottom electrodes, whereas the Ni/Yb₂O₃/TaN reveals the bipolar memory switching behavior with a high resistance ratio of 10⁴ for over 200 cycles of switching responses and good data retention with memory window of about 10⁵ at 85°C, as extrapolated up to 10 years. The resistance switching dynamic is ascribed to the conductivity modulation by oxygen ions/vacancies controlled electrochemical reaction process in the Yb₂O₃ switching layer.