Resistive switching behaviour of a tantalum oxide nanolayer fabricated by plasma oxidation

We investigate the resistive switching behaviour of a tantalum oxide nanolayer-based nonvolatile memory with Pt/TaO5-x/TaN structure, which was prepared at room temperature through a processing compatible with CMOS technology. The tantalum oxide nanolayer with thickness of about 5 nm was fabricated by plasma oxidation of TaN films. The switching mechanism can be explained by the modulation of the local oxygen-deficient conduction channel resulting from oxygen ions drift. This Letter represents a cost-efficient method for developing nanoscale restive switching nonvolatile memories. (copyright 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)