Superior resistive switching memory and biological synapse properties based on a simple TiN/SiO2/p-Si tunneling junction structure

In this study, a simple TiN/SiO 2 /p-Si tunneling junction structure was fabricated via thermal oxidation growth on a Si substrate annealed at 600 °C. After electroforming, the number of cycle times for the SiO 2 -based tunneling junction device can reach an order of magnitude of greater than 10 5 . The resistances at low and high resistance states and the threshold voltage of the device fluctuated in a very narrow range. More interestingly, excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic current phenomena (EPSC and IPSC) were observed during the pulse mode measurements, indicating that the device can be used in biological synapse applications. At different measurement temperatures and electric fields, direct, Fowler-Nordheim, and trap-assisted tunneling were responsible for the intrinsic conductance mechanism of the device before and after electroforming. This study provides a convenient approach to prepare simple tunneling junction structures for resistive random access memory applications with superior properties. In this study, a simple TiN/SiO 2 /p-Si tunneling junction structure was fabricated via thermal oxidation growth on a Si substrate annealed at 600 °C.