Electroforming and threshold switching characteristics of NbOx films with crystalline NbO2 phase

Jimin Lee; Jaeyeon Kim; Juyoung Jeong; Hyunchul Sohn

doi:10.1116/6.0001215

Electroforming and threshold switching characteristics of NbO_x films with crystalline NbO₂ phase

Jimin Lee, Jaeyeon Kim, Juyoung Jeong, Hyunchul Sohn

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Threshold switching (TS) and negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic of niobium oxide (NbO_x) films have been actively studied for neuromorphic computing. Generally, the electroforming process is required for TS and NDR in NbO_x films. However, different electroforming and TS properties have been reported for NbO_x films with different crystallinities or chemical compositions. This study investigates the effect of thermal annealing on the microstructures of NbO_x films and compares the electroforming, TS, and NDR characteristics of amorphous, partially crystallized, and fully crystallized films. The distributions of crystalline NbO₂ phase in NbO_x films annealed at various temperatures were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy dark-field imaging, and it was observed that the distribution of crystalline NbO₂ phase influenced the electroforming process. Moreover, TS characteristics improved in the thermally annealed NbO_x films with crystalline NbO₂ phases.

Original language	English
Article number	053206
Journal	Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B
Volume	39
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001215
Publication status	Published - 2021 Sept 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Industry–University cooperation project of Samsung Electronics (No. IO201215-08192-01).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Author(s).

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Instrumentation
Process Chemistry and Technology
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Materials Chemistry

Access to Document

10.1116/6.0001215

Cite this

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abstract = "Threshold switching (TS) and negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic of niobium oxide (NbOx) films have been actively studied for neuromorphic computing. Generally, the electroforming process is required for TS and NDR in NbOx films. However, different electroforming and TS properties have been reported for NbOx films with different crystallinities or chemical compositions. This study investigates the effect of thermal annealing on the microstructures of NbOx films and compares the electroforming, TS, and NDR characteristics of amorphous, partially crystallized, and fully crystallized films. The distributions of crystalline NbO2 phase in NbOx films annealed at various temperatures were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy dark-field imaging, and it was observed that the distribution of crystalline NbO2 phase influenced the electroforming process. Moreover, TS characteristics improved in the thermally annealed NbOx films with crystalline NbO2 phases.",

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