Programmable complementary resistive switching behaviours of a plasma-oxidised titanium oxide nanolayer

Through the one-step plasma oxidation of TiN thin films at room temperature (a simple semiconductor technology compatible method), a partly oxidised structure of titanium oxynitride (TiN x O y ) with a TiO 2− x nanolayer on top has been prepared for non-volatile resistive switching memory devices. The fabricated Pt/TiO 2− x /TiN x O y /TiN memory devices demonstrate complementary resistive switching behaviours within an operation voltage of 1 V. The complementary resistive switching behaviours can be explained by redistribution of the oxygen vacancies between the Pt/TiO 2− x top interface and the TiO 2− x /TiN x O y bottom interface in the TiO 2− x nanolayer. A model concerning the resistive switching mechanism as well as a recover program of a failed device is also proposed. Our work provides a possible cost-efficient solution to suppress the sneak-path problem in nanoscale crossbar memory arrays. A titanium oxide nanolayer-based memory cell, fabricated by the one-step plasma oxidation of a TiN film, demonstrates complementary resistive switching behaviours.