Relationship between hydrogen diffusion and negative-SET occurred in resistive random access memory with inert electrode

The negative-SET occurred in resistive random access memory (RRAM) leads to irreversible hard breakdown, and it is urgent to investigate the reasons for its occurrence. In this paper, we use Pt and Ru inert electrodes with different hydrogen diffusion coefficients to construct SiNx-based RRAM, and the relationship between hydrogen ion movement and the occurrence of negative-SET is studied. By analyzing the test results of current sweep mode and fitting results of current conduction mechanisms, we proposed that the diffusion of hydrogen ions from the switching layer to the electrode is the key cause of the occurrence of the negative-SET process. This study suggests that the role of hydrogen ions in the switching process should be incorporated into the RRAM model, and we should pay more attention to the influence of hydrogen diffusion on the characteristics of RRAM, especially on reliability. When negative-SET occurs in resistive random access memory it causes an irreversible hard breakdown. Here, the authors demonstrate that hydrogen ions moved directionally towards the electrodes under an applied electric field are an underlying factor in the occurrence of negative-SET.