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Solid electrolyte based-resistive memories have been considered to be a potential candidate for future information technology with applications in non-volatile memory, logic circuits and neuromorphic computing. A conductive filament model has been generally accepted to be the underlying mechanism for the resistive switching. However, the growth dynamics of such conductive filaments is still not fully understood. Here, we explore the controllability of filament growth by correlating observations of the filament growth with the electric field distribution and several other factors. The filament growth behavior has been recorded using in situ transmission electron microscopy. By studying the real-time recorded filament growth behavior and morphologies, we have been able to simulate the electric field distribution in accordance with our observations. Other factors have also been shown to affect the filament growth, such as Joule heating and electrolyte infrastructure. This work provides insight into the controllable growth of conductive filaments and will help guide research into further functionalities of nanoionic resistive memories.


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Filament growth dynamics in solid electrolyte-based resistive memories revealed by in situ TEM

Show Author's information Xuezeng TianLifen WangJiake WeiShize YangWenlong WangZhi Xu( )Xuedong Bai( )
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter PhysicsInstitute of PhysicsChinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100190China

Abstract

Solid electrolyte based-resistive memories have been considered to be a potential candidate for future information technology with applications in non-volatile memory, logic circuits and neuromorphic computing. A conductive filament model has been generally accepted to be the underlying mechanism for the resistive switching. However, the growth dynamics of such conductive filaments is still not fully understood. Here, we explore the controllability of filament growth by correlating observations of the filament growth with the electric field distribution and several other factors. The filament growth behavior has been recorded using in situ transmission electron microscopy. By studying the real-time recorded filament growth behavior and morphologies, we have been able to simulate the electric field distribution in accordance with our observations. Other factors have also been shown to affect the filament growth, such as Joule heating and electrolyte infrastructure. This work provides insight into the controllable growth of conductive filaments and will help guide research into further functionalities of nanoionic resistive memories.

Keywords: resistive switching, conductive filaments, in situ transmission electron microscope, real-time observation, computer simulation

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 16 February 2014
Revised: 27 March 2014
Accepted: 07 April 2014
Published: 25 June 2014
Issue date: July 2014

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Basic Research (973) Program of China (Grant Nos.2012CB933003, 2013CB932601 and 2013CB934500) from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51172273).

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