Investigation of resistive switching in bipolar TaO x -based resistive random access memory

Al/Ta 2 O 5 /Pt RRAM cell was successfully demonstrated with stable bipolar switching. Band alignment for the structure of Al/Ta 2 O 5 /Pt was obtained using high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate resistance switching behavior. Hole barrier heights of Ta 2 O 5 on metals Pt and Al were extracted using core level and valence band spectra. The energy band alignments of Pt/TaO x and Al/TaO x were thus determined and correlated to conduction mechanisms governing SET and RESET processes of actual bipolar Pt/TaO x /Al devices.