Effect of Pulse and dc Formation on the Performance of One-Transistor and One-Resistor Resistance Random Access Memory Devices

We investigate the effect of the formation process under pulse and dc modes on the performance of one transistor and one resistor (1T1R) resistance random access memory (RRAM) device. All the devices are operated under the same test conditions, except for the initial formation process with different modes. Based on the statistical results, the high resistance state (HRS) under the dc forming mode shows a lower value with better distribution compared with that under the pulse mode. One of the possible reasons for such a phenomenon originates from different properties of conductive filament (CF) formed in the resistive switching layer under two different modes. For the dc forming mode, the formed filament is thought to be continuous, which is hard to be ruptured, resulting in a lower HRS. However, in the case of pulse forming, the filament is discontinuous where the transport mechanism is governed by hopping. The low resistance state (LRS) can be easily changed by removing a few trapping states from the conducting path. Hence, a higher HRS is thus observed. However, the HRS resistance is highly dependent on the length of the gap opened. A slight variation of the gap length will cause wide dispersion of resistance.