Bipolar resistive switching properties of AlN films deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition

•AlN films were grown by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition.•Bipolar resistive switching properties were observed in Cu/PEALD-AlN/Pt devices.•The properties are induced upon the formation/disruption of Cu conducting filaments.•PEALD-AlN films have a great potential for the applications in 3D ReRAM. AlN thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) have been used to investigate the resistive switching (RS) behavior. The bipolar RS properties were observed in the Cu/PEALD-AlN/Pt devices, which are induced upon the formation/disruption of Cu conducting filaments, as confirmed by the temperature dependent resistances relationships at different resistance states. The resistance ratio of the high and low resistance states (HRS/LRS) is 102–105. The dominant conduction mechanisms at HRS and LRS are trap-controlled space charge limited current and Ohmic behavior, respectively. This study demonstrated that the PEALD-AlN films have a great potential for the applications in high-density resistance random access memory.