Energy dissipation during pulsed switching of strontium-titanate based resistive switching memory devices

Resistive random access memories based on redox phenomena (ReRAM) combine several advantages. Beside their good scalability, high endurance and fast switching speed they are also very energy efficient. This work presents a study of the SET kinetics of SrTiO3-based resistive switches covering the timescale from <;10 ns up to 104 s. The power-dependence of the SET kinetics and the switching energy are analyzed. It is found that there is a minimum energy that is necessary for switching at a certain time furthermore it is found that devices that otherwise behave very differently have the same minimum switching energies. The experimental findings are discussed theoretically using a 2D axisymmeric finite element simulation model. Based on the simulation results design guidelines to minimize the minimum switching energy are derived