Resistive random access memory based on SrO and preparation method thereof
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of information storage devices, particularly relates to development and research work of important components of a novel non-volatile information storage device, and more particularly relates to a resistive random access memory based on SrO and a preparation method thereof.
Background
Memory (Memory) is a Memory device used in modern information technology to store various data and programs, and generally employs two stable state Memory cells to implement the Memory function. The array composed of a large number of memory cells is taken as a core, and necessary address decoding and read-write control circuits are added to form a memory integrated circuit; the memory chip is formed by adding necessary I/O interface and some auxiliary circuits. At present, the non-volatile memory in the market is mainly a Flash memory (Flash), but the Flash memory itself still faces many defects and difficulties, such as too slow erasing speed, too high erasing voltage, and the like. The biggest bottleneck of flash memory is at the limit of size reduction, which directly results in the storage density of flash memory approaching its physical limit. Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) stores data by using a certain thin film material to exhibit two or more different resistance states under the action of an external electric field. The resistive random access memory has the advantages of simple structure, high storage density, convenience in realizing 3D (three-dimensional) stacking, good contractibility performance, low power consumption, high erasing and writing speed repeatability, compatibility with the traditional CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) and the like. Therefore, a new generation of memory technology represented by the resistive random access memory has become a research hotspot which is concerned by the academic and industrial fields.
The basic structure of the resistive random access memory comprises two layers of electrode materials with good conductivity and a layer of semiconductor or insulating storage medium material in the middle. The dielectric layer material is a carrier of the resistive random access memory for generating the resistive random access memory, and has the most direct and key influence on the performance of the resistive random access memory. At present, a great number of dielectric layer materials are reported for the resistive random access memory, wherein the inorganic dielectric materials include the following types: binary oxides, ternary and multicomponent oxides, chalcogenic solid electrolytes, nitrides and other inorganic materials. The storage medium material of the binary oxide shows the best storage performance in all medium materials. New dielectric layer materials and new structures are being sought worldwide to improve the memory performance of RRAMs.
Disclosure of Invention
Technical problem to be solved
In order to avoid the defects of the prior art, the invention provides a novel SrO-based resistive random access memory with the advantages of more stable performance, lower power consumption, higher memory window ratio and the like, and provides a tin-copper alloy/strontium oxide film/platinum structure and a preparation method thereof.
Technical scheme
A resistive random access memory based on SrO is characterized in that an MIM structure is adopted, a top electrode and a bottom electrode of the MIM structure are respectively metal electrodes, and an intermediate dielectric layer is an amorphous strontium oxide film; wherein the top electrode is Sn-Cu alloy with a thickness of 200-500 nm; the bottom electrode is Pt, and the thickness of the Pt is 100-200 nm; the thickness of the strontium oxide amorphous film is 20-60 nm.
And a protective layer is arranged between the middle medium layer and the top electrode, is made of metal Pt and has the thickness of 10-50 nm.
The Sn-Cu alloy comprises 99.7% of Sn and 0.3% of Cu.
A preparation method of a resistive random access memory based on SrO is characterized by comprising the following steps:
step 1: depositing a SrO film on a Pt substrate which is sequentially pretreated by deionized water, alcohol and acetone, wherein the thickness of the SrO film is 20-60 nm; the deposition adopts JGP560C type ultrahigh vacuum multifunctional magnetron sputtering equipment, and the deposition vacuum degree is less than 1 multiplied by 10-4Pa, deposition rate between 2nm/min and 10 nm/min;
step 2: under vacuum degree of less than 1 × 10-4Under the condition of Pa, depositing a Pt layer as a protective layer on the prepared SrO film, wherein the thickness is between 10nm and 50 nm;
and step 3: and evaporating a tin-copper alloy electrode by using a vacuum evaporation device, wherein the thickness of the tin-copper alloy electrode is between 200nm and 500nm, and obtaining a pattern of the required electrode through a mask plate with a hole diameter of 0.3mm in the process of preparing the electrode.
Advantageous effects
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the advantages that: according to the invention, the strontium oxide is used as the resistance change material of the resistance change memory, so that the memory with good resistance change performance can be prepared. The SrO-based resistive random access memory has the advantages of small erasing voltage, good stability and extremely large storage window, improves the storage density and provides possibility for multi-value storage of a nonvolatile low-power-consumption memory.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a process flow diagram of a resistive random access memory according to an embodiment of the invention; (a) depositing a SrO film on a Pt substrate; (b) depositing a Pt layer on the SrO film; (c) evaporating a tin-copper alloy electrode;
1-Pt substrate, 2-SrO film, 3-Pt layer and 4-tin-copper alloy electrode;
fig. 2 shows the result of the resistance change characteristic test of the SrO-based resistance change memory of the present invention: the a-device jumps from a high resistance state to a low resistance state under the excitation of forward bias; b-a process of maintaining a low resistance state; c, the jump process of the device from a low resistance state to a high resistance state under the excitation of negative bias; d-a process of maintaining a high resistance state;
fig. 3 is a test result of cycle characteristics of the SrO-based resistance change memory according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
The invention will now be further described with reference to the following examples and drawings:
the strontium oxide-based resistive random access memory is of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure, a top electrode and a bottom electrode of the MIM structure are metal electrodes respectively, and a middle dielectric layer of the structure is an amorphous strontium oxide film. Wherein the top electrode is Sn-Cu alloy (Sn/99.7%, Cu/0.3%) with a thickness between 200nm and 500 nm. The bottom electrode is commercially available platinum/titanium/silicon dioxide/silicon (Pt/Ti/SiO)2/Si) composite substrate, the thickness of Pt is between 100nm and 200 nm.
A preparation method of an SrO-based resistive random access memory comprises the following steps:
step 1: growing a SrO insulating layer on Pt of the composite substrate;
step 2: sputtering a Pt layer as a protective layer;
and step 3: obtaining a top electrode with a certain pattern;
the step 1 specifically comprises the following steps: the SrO film is deposited by a magnetron sputtering method, vacuum deposition is carried out, and the deposition vacuum degree is less than 1 multiplied by 10-4Pa, the deposition speed is 2nm/min-10 nm/min. Step 2 after the step 1 is to sputter a Pt layer on the SrO film by magnetron sputtering, which aims to prevent the strontium oxide film from absorbing moisture and carbon dioxide in the air to become strontium hydroxide (Sr (OH)2) And strontium carbonate (SrCO)3). And 3, specifically, covering a mask plate with a hole with the diameter of 0.3mm on the primary finished product obtained in the step 2, and obtaining the electrode with a certain pattern by adopting a vacuum evaporation method.
The process of the SrO-based resistive random access memory prepared by the invention is shown in figure 1,
1) a SrO thin film 2 is deposited on a Pt substrate 1 (as a bottom electrode) pretreated with deionized water, alcohol, and acetone in sequence to a thickness of 20nm to 60nm, as shown in fig. 1 (a). JGP560C type ultrahigh vacuum multifunctional magnetron sputtering equipment is adopted for deposition, the standard parameters of the equipment are selected for the process, the thickness of the film is about 20-60nm, and the deposition rate is between 2nm/min and 10 nm/min;
2) under vacuum degree of less than 1 × 10-4In the case of Pa, depositing a Pt layer 3 as a protective layer on the prepared SrO film 2, wherein the thickness is between 10nm and 50nm, as shown in figure 1 (b);
3) and evaporating the tin-copper alloy electrode 4 by using a vacuum evaporation device, wherein the thickness is between 200nm and 500 nm. In the process of preparing the electrode, a required electrode pattern is obtained through a mask plate with a hole diameter of 0.3mm, as shown in fig. 1 (c);
the invention uses SrO as the material of the resistive layer, and has the advantages of obtaining the resistive random access memory with ultrahigh memory window and low threshold voltage. The multi-value storage possibility of the single-layer memory is realized, and high-density storage is hopeful to be realized.
The resistance change performance test of the resistance change memory prepared in this embodiment is shown in fig. 2 and 3.
As can be seen from fig. 2, as the applied bias voltage of the top electrode changes (the bottom electrode is always grounded), the resistive layer between the top electrode and the bottom electrode can be inverted between high level and low level, i.e. the transition between the stored logic states "0" and "1" occurs. In addition, the threshold voltage of the device is smaller, which is beneficial to reducing power consumption.
As can be seen from fig. 3, under the condition of reading with the small voltage of 0.02V applied, the resistance value of the high-resistance state and the low-resistance state of the device does not fluctuate greatly during the 100-cycle test, which indicates that the memory has good uniformity of resistance distribution and good endurance. Meanwhile, the resistive random access memory device shows an ultra-high memory window (up to 10)9)。