Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:20:01.085Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On the Mechanism of Resistive Switching in MIM Capacitors – An Approach with In-situ TEM Experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Herbert Schroeder*
Affiliation:
[email protected], Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, IEM / IFF, Leo-Brandt-Strasse, Juelich, N/A, D-52425, Germany, +49-2461-61 6938, +49-2461- 61 8214
Get access

Abstract

In this contribution an in-situ TEM experiment is suggested to observe the microstructure of a metal/oxide insulator/metal (MIM) capacitor structure during resistive switching due to an applied external voltage or current. The motivation for such an experiment is the fact that there is a large pool on the resistive switching data in the literature, but there is no agreement on the mechanism, which in part is due to missing microstructural observations of the effects. For such an experiment a special TEM sample holder has been developed allowing controlled in-situ application of temperature (RT to 300°C) with a heating stage and of voltage (current) as a part of a 4-terminal resistance measurement set-up. This is combined with a special TEM sample preparation method, the “window”-technique, so that no thinning of the MIM thin film structure is necessary at all (which is an advantage as the oxides are known to be very sensitive to damage introduced by methods such as ion-milling). Special electrode configurations have been designed to allow nearly undisturbed TEM observation of the switching insulator. Identical samples will also be investigated ex-situ in conventional switching experiments to identify the influence of the special TEM environment (high vacuum, irradiation with energetic electrons).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Dearnaly, G., Stoneham, A.M, and Morgan, D.V., Reports Prog. Phys. 33, 1129 (1970).Google Scholar
2 Snider, G., Kuekes, P., Hoog, T., and Stanley Williams, R., Appl. Phys. A80, 1183 (2005).Google Scholar
3 Miyazaki, T. and Tezuka, N., J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 139, L231 (1995).Google Scholar
4 Ovshinsky, S. R., Phys. Rev. Letters 36, 1469 (1968).Google Scholar
5 Ma, L.P., Liu, J., and Yang, Y., Appl. Phys. Letters 80, 2997 (2002).Google Scholar
6 Balzani, V., Credi, A., Raymo, F.M., and Stoddard, J.F., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39, 3349 (2000).Google Scholar
7 Beck, A., Bednorz, J.G., Gerber, Ch., Rossel, C., and Widmer, D., Appl. Phys. Letters 77, 139 (2000).Google Scholar
8 Simmons, J.G. and Verderber, R.R., Proc. Royal Soc., Ser. A 301, 77 (1967).Google Scholar
9 Dearnaly, G., Int. Journal Electron. 29, 299 (1970).Google Scholar
10 Szot, K., Speier, W., Carius, R., Zastrow, U., and Beyer, W., Phys. Rev. Letters 88, 075508 (2002).Google Scholar
11 Schroeder, H. and Heinen, D., AIP Conf. Proc. 418, 183 (1998).Google Scholar
12 Schroeder, H., MRS Symp. Proc. 516, 237 (1998).Google Scholar
13 Jeong, D.S. and Schroeder, H., to be published.Google Scholar