Electrodeposition of GeSbTe-based resistive switching memory in crossbar arrays

In this work, we report on the fabrication of resistive random-access memory cells based on electrodeposited GeSbTe material between TiN top and bottom electrodes in a crossbar architecture. The cells exhibit asymmetric bipolar resistive switching characteristics under the same SET and RESET compliance current (CC), showing highly uniform and reproducible switching properties. A multi-state switching behavior can be also achieved by varying the sweeping voltage and CC. Unlike phase-change switching, the switching between the high-resistance state and the low-resistance state in these cells can be attributed to the formation and rupture of conductive Te bridge(s) within the Te-rich GeSbTe matrix upon application of a high electric field. The results point toward the usage of the electrodeposition method to fabricate advanced functional device structures for application in non-volatile memory