Pulse frequency dependent synaptic characteristics in Ta/SiN/Si memristor device for neuromorphic system

Highlights: • We fabricated the memristor device stacked with Ta/SiN/Si. • Homogeneous and filamentary resistive switching type is investigated for neuromorphic system. • Pulse frequency dependent synaptic plasticity is studied. • Potentiation and depression is compared between two modes. -- Abstract: We compare the filamentary resistive switching and the homogeneous resistive switching of the Ta/SiN/Si memristor device for the implementation of hardware-based neuromorphic system. The switching mode can be determined by the first switching curve. The low-resistance state (LRS) of filamentary resistive switching has stable retention properties without the resistance degradation, indicating the existence of different switching mechanisms between two. In homogeneous resistive switching mode, a more gradual increase and decrease in conductance control is possible. The multi-level states property provides better performance of pattern recognition when applied to neural network model. Finally, we demonstrate the improved frequency dependent conductance modulation in homogeneous resistive switching mode.