Atomic layer engineering on resistive switching in sub-4 nm AlN resistive random access memory devices

In this article, aluminum nitride (AlN) resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices are fabricated and investigated. To improve the resistive switching performance, the atomic layer annealing (ALA) technique, which is an energy transfer process by the in situ plasma treatment introduced into atomic layer deposition, was used to modulate the film quality of the AlN switching layer with a thickness of only 3.3 nm. The ALA treatment is capable of tailoring nitrogen vacancies in the AlN layer with monolayer accuracy, leading to a decrease in the operating voltage and an improvement in uniformity of the resistive switching characteristics. In addition, the AlN RRAM devices exhibit pulse endurance over 10 4 cycles and retention of more than 10 6 s at 125 °C. The result demonstrates that the resistive switching properties of RRAMs can be controlled by the precise atomic layer engineering of each monolayer. This study demonstrates the precise tailoring of material properties of nanoscale thin films and electrical properties of AlN RRAM devices by atomic layer annealing.