Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode

Junru Qu; Wentai Xia; Jifang Cao; Xueyang Li; Ran Cheng; Dong Liu; Bing Chen

doi:10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

J. Semicond. > In Press

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Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode

Junru Qu¹, Wentai Xia¹, Jifang Cao¹, Xueyang Li¹, Ran Cheng¹, Dong Liu² and Bing Chen^{3, 4,}

+ Author Affiliations

Corresponding author: Bing Chen, chenbing@xidian.edu.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006CSTR: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

Abstract: In this work, the oxide-based programmable diodes (PDs) with structure of TiN/HfO₂/Si/Al are fabricated, and its electron transport mechanisms are investigated. Electrical measurements results depicted that the conduction and rectification performance of oxide-based PDs are mainly controlled by the interface between oxygen vacancies (VOs) consisted filament and semiconductor electrode. The local density of state in filament and band-bending of the PDs are calculated by first-principal simulation. The electron transport in oxide PDs is dominated by Poole−Frenkel emission under forward bias, while under negative bias, the PDs behave like a reverse Schottky-diode. These mechanisms research is necessary for device optimization and circuit design of oxide-based PDs.

Key words: diode, oxide, resistive switching

References

[1]	Hickmott T W. Low-frequency negative resistance in thin anodic oxide films. J Appl Phys, 1962, 33(9), 2669 doi: 10.1063/1.1702530
[2]	Gibbons J F, Beadle W E. Switching properties of thin nio films. Solid State Electron, 1964, 7(11), 785 doi: 10.1016/0038-1101(64)90131-5
[3]	Beck A, Bednorz J G, Gerber C, et al. Reproducible switching effect in thin oxide films for memory applications. Appl Phys Lett, 2000, 77(1), 139 doi: 10.1063/1.126902
[4]	Watanabe Y, Bednorz J G, Bietsch A, et al. Current-driven insulator–conductor transition and nonvolatile memory in chromium-doped SrTiO₃ single crystals. Appl Phys Lett, 2001, 78(23), 3738 doi: 10.1063/1.1377617
[5]	Waser R, Aono M. Nanoionics-based resistive switching memories. Nat Mater, 2007, 6(11), 833 doi: 10.1038/nmat2023
[6]	Strukov D B, Snider G S, Stewart D R, et al. The missing memristor found. Nature, 2008, 453(7191), 80 doi: 10.1038/nature06932
[7]	Borghetti J, Snider G S, Kuekes P J, et al. ‘Memristive’ switches enable ‘stateful’ logic operations via material implication. Nature, 2010, 464, 873 doi: 10.1038/nature08940
[8]	Chen B, Cai F X, Zhou J T, et al. Efficient in-memory computing architecture based on crossbar arrays. 2015 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2015, 17.5.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM.2015.7409720
[9]	Yao P, Wu H Q, Gao B, et al. Fully hardware-implemented memristor convolutional neural network. Nature, 2020, 577(7792), 641 doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1942-4
[10]	Liu S Q, Wei S T, Yao P, et al. A 28 nm 576K rram-based computing-in-memory macro featuring hybrid programming with area efficiency of 2.82 TOPS/mm². J Semicond, 2025, 46(6), 062304 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/24100017
[11]	Feng Y, Sun Z H, Qi Y R, et al. Optimized operation scheme of flash-memory-based neural network online training with ultra-high endurance. J Semicond, 2024, 45(1), 012301 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/45/1/012301
[12]	Tran X A, Zhu W G, Gao B, et al. A self-rectifying HfO_x-based unipolar rram with NiSi electrode. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2012, 33(4), 585 doi: 10.1109/LED.2011.2181971
[13]	Huang P, Chen S J, Zhao Y D, et al. Self-selection rram cell with Sub-μA switching current and robust reliability fabricated by high-K/metal gate CMOS compatible technology. 2016 IEEE Silicon Nanoelectronics Workshop (SNW), 2016, 38 doi: 10.1109/SNW.2016.7577974
[14]	Chen B, Zhang Y, Liu W, et al. Ge-based asymmetric rram enable 8F² content addressable memory. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2018, 39(9), 1294 doi: 10.1109/LED.2018.2856537
[15]	Cui X C, Liu D, Cao J F, et al. A high-density large-ratio fuse based oxide devices for one-time-programmable memory applications. 2022 IEEE International Conference on Integrated Circuits, Technologies and Applications (ICTA), 2022, 76 doi: 10.1109/ICTA56932.2022.9962988
[16]	Luo Q, Chen B, Cao R R, et al. Complementary memory cell based on field-programmable ferroelectric diode for ultra-low power current-SA free BNN applications. 2019 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2019, 38.5.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM19573.2019.8993545
[17]	Ye J B, Zhu J Y, Cao J F, et al. A novel parallel in-memory logic array based on programmable diodes. IEEE J Electron Devices Soc, 2024, 12, 738 doi: 10.1109/JEDS.2024.3457021
[18]	Janousch M, Meijer G I, Staub U, et al. Role of oxygen vacancies in Cr-doped SrTiO₃ for resistance-change memory. Adv Mater, 2007, 19(17), 2232 doi: 10.1002/adma.200602915
[19]	Joshua Yang J, Pickett M D, Li X M, et al. Memristive switching mechanism for metal/oxide/metal nanodevices. Nat Nanotechnol, 2008, 3(7), 429 doi: 10.1038/nnano.2008.160
[20]	Wong H P, Lee H Y, Yu S M, et al. Metal–oxide rram. Proc IEEE, 2012, 100(6), 1951 doi: 10.1109/JPROC.2012.2190369
[21]	Perdew J P, Burke K, Ernzerhof M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys Rev Lett, 1996, 77(18), 3865 doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865
[22]	Duncan D, Magyari-Köpe B, Nishi Y. Hydrogen doping in HfO₂ resistance change random access memory. Appl Phys Lett, 2016, 108(4), 043501 doi: 10.1063/1.4940369
[23]	Rudan M. Physics of semiconductor devices. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2015 doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-63154-7
[24]	Schroeder H. Poole-Frenkel-effect as dominating current mechanism in thin oxide films: An illusion? !. J Appl Phys, 2015, 117(21), 215103 doi: 10.1063/1.4921949
[25]	Wu E Y, Li B Z. The Schottky emission effect: A critical examination of a century-old model. J Appl Phys, 2022, 132(2), 025105 doi: 10.1063/5.0087909
[26]	Luo Q, Xu X, Gong T, Lv H, et al. 8-layers 3d vertical rram with excellent scalability towards storage class memory applications. 2017 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2017, 2.7.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM.2017.8268315

Fig. 1. (Color online) (a) The structure and process flow of the PDs. (b) The cross-section image of PD. (c) The I−V characteristics of PDs with different N_D before programming. (d) The I−V characteristics of PDs with different N_D after programming.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 2. (Color online) The on-state and off-state current vs. device area of PD with (a) N_D = 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, (b) N_D = 10¹⁶ cm⁻³, and (c) N_D = 10¹⁵ cm⁻³.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 3. (Color online) The structure of Si-HfO₂ before and after forming channels of VOs.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 4. (Color online) PDs’ current with various voltages in (a) linear scale and (b) log scale before and after forming VOs.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 5. (Color online) Comparison of LDOS under positive and negative voltage bias for PD. LDOS at (a) V = 2 V and (b) V = −2 V.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 6. (Color online) The band diagram of PDs with heavily doped substrate under (a) forward bias and (b) reverse bias. And the band diagram of PDs with lightly doped substrate under (c) forward bias and (d) reverse bias. Three main transport mechanisms were illustrated, as (1) Poole−Frenkel emission, (2) field emission, and (3) thermionic emission.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 7. (Color online) Experiment data vs. model fitting results of forward current of (a) PDs with heavily doped substrate and (b) PDs with lightly doped substrate. Experiment data vs. model fitting results of reverse current of (c) PDs with heavily doped substrate and (d) PDs with lightly doped substrate.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Table 1. Performance parameters of PDs with different N_D.

Doping density (cm⁻³)	Forward voltage V_F (V)	Forward current I_F (μA)	Reverse current I_R (μA)
10¹⁵	1.201	71.64	0.3578
10¹⁶	0.8471	820.3	0.7080
10¹⁸	0.5005	1460	611.6

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[1]	Hickmott T W. Low-frequency negative resistance in thin anodic oxide films. J Appl Phys, 1962, 33(9), 2669 doi: 10.1063/1.1702530
[2]	Gibbons J F, Beadle W E. Switching properties of thin nio films. Solid State Electron, 1964, 7(11), 785 doi: 10.1016/0038-1101(64)90131-5
[3]	Beck A, Bednorz J G, Gerber C, et al. Reproducible switching effect in thin oxide films for memory applications. Appl Phys Lett, 2000, 77(1), 139 doi: 10.1063/1.126902
[4]	Watanabe Y, Bednorz J G, Bietsch A, et al. Current-driven insulator–conductor transition and nonvolatile memory in chromium-doped SrTiO₃ single crystals. Appl Phys Lett, 2001, 78(23), 3738 doi: 10.1063/1.1377617
[5]	Waser R, Aono M. Nanoionics-based resistive switching memories. Nat Mater, 2007, 6(11), 833 doi: 10.1038/nmat2023
[6]	Strukov D B, Snider G S, Stewart D R, et al. The missing memristor found. Nature, 2008, 453(7191), 80 doi: 10.1038/nature06932
[7]	Borghetti J, Snider G S, Kuekes P J, et al. ‘Memristive’ switches enable ‘stateful’ logic operations via material implication. Nature, 2010, 464, 873 doi: 10.1038/nature08940
[8]	Chen B, Cai F X, Zhou J T, et al. Efficient in-memory computing architecture based on crossbar arrays. 2015 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2015, 17.5.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM.2015.7409720
[9]	Yao P, Wu H Q, Gao B, et al. Fully hardware-implemented memristor convolutional neural network. Nature, 2020, 577(7792), 641 doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1942-4
[10]	Liu S Q, Wei S T, Yao P, et al. A 28 nm 576K rram-based computing-in-memory macro featuring hybrid programming with area efficiency of 2.82 TOPS/mm². J Semicond, 2025, 46(6), 062304 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/24100017
[11]	Feng Y, Sun Z H, Qi Y R, et al. Optimized operation scheme of flash-memory-based neural network online training with ultra-high endurance. J Semicond, 2024, 45(1), 012301 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/45/1/012301
[12]	Tran X A, Zhu W G, Gao B, et al. A self-rectifying HfO_x-based unipolar rram with NiSi electrode. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2012, 33(4), 585 doi: 10.1109/LED.2011.2181971
[13]	Huang P, Chen S J, Zhao Y D, et al. Self-selection rram cell with Sub-μA switching current and robust reliability fabricated by high-K/metal gate CMOS compatible technology. 2016 IEEE Silicon Nanoelectronics Workshop (SNW), 2016, 38 doi: 10.1109/SNW.2016.7577974
[14]	Chen B, Zhang Y, Liu W, et al. Ge-based asymmetric rram enable 8F² content addressable memory. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2018, 39(9), 1294 doi: 10.1109/LED.2018.2856537
[15]	Cui X C, Liu D, Cao J F, et al. A high-density large-ratio fuse based oxide devices for one-time-programmable memory applications. 2022 IEEE International Conference on Integrated Circuits, Technologies and Applications (ICTA), 2022, 76 doi: 10.1109/ICTA56932.2022.9962988
[16]	Luo Q, Chen B, Cao R R, et al. Complementary memory cell based on field-programmable ferroelectric diode for ultra-low power current-SA free BNN applications. 2019 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2019, 38.5.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM19573.2019.8993545
[17]	Ye J B, Zhu J Y, Cao J F, et al. A novel parallel in-memory logic array based on programmable diodes. IEEE J Electron Devices Soc, 2024, 12, 738 doi: 10.1109/JEDS.2024.3457021
[18]	Janousch M, Meijer G I, Staub U, et al. Role of oxygen vacancies in Cr-doped SrTiO₃ for resistance-change memory. Adv Mater, 2007, 19(17), 2232 doi: 10.1002/adma.200602915
[19]	Joshua Yang J, Pickett M D, Li X M, et al. Memristive switching mechanism for metal/oxide/metal nanodevices. Nat Nanotechnol, 2008, 3(7), 429 doi: 10.1038/nnano.2008.160
[20]	Wong H P, Lee H Y, Yu S M, et al. Metal–oxide rram. Proc IEEE, 2012, 100(6), 1951 doi: 10.1109/JPROC.2012.2190369
[21]	Perdew J P, Burke K, Ernzerhof M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys Rev Lett, 1996, 77(18), 3865 doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865
[22]	Duncan D, Magyari-Köpe B, Nishi Y. Hydrogen doping in HfO₂ resistance change random access memory. Appl Phys Lett, 2016, 108(4), 043501 doi: 10.1063/1.4940369
[23]	Rudan M. Physics of semiconductor devices. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2015 doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-63154-7
[24]	Schroeder H. Poole-Frenkel-effect as dominating current mechanism in thin oxide films: An illusion? !. J Appl Phys, 2015, 117(21), 215103 doi: 10.1063/1.4921949
[25]	Wu E Y, Li B Z. The Schottky emission effect: A critical examination of a century-old model. J Appl Phys, 2022, 132(2), 025105 doi: 10.1063/5.0087909
[26]	Luo Q, Xu X, Gong T, Lv H, et al. 8-layers 3d vertical rram with excellent scalability towards storage class memory applications. 2017 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2017, 2.7.1 doi: 10.1109/IEDM.2017.8268315

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Received: 04 September 2025 Revised: 11 October 2025 Online: Accepted Manuscript: 28 October 2025Uncorrected proof: 30 October 2025

Article Navigation > Journal of Semiconductors > 2025 > Uncorrected proof

Junru Qu, Wentai Xia, Jifang Cao, Xueyang Li, Ran Cheng, Dong Liu, Bing Chen. Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2025, In Press. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006 ****J R Qu, W T Xia, J F Cao, X Y Li, R Cheng, D Liu, and B Chen, Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode[J]. J. Semicond., 2025, accepted doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

Citation:

Junru Qu, Wentai Xia, Jifang Cao, Xueyang Li, Ran Cheng, Dong Liu, Bing Chen. Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2025, In Press. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006 ****

J R Qu, W T Xia, J F Cao, X Y Li, R Cheng, D Liu, and B Chen, Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode[J]. J. Semicond., 2025, accepted doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

Citation:

J R Qu, W T Xia, J F Cao, X Y Li, R Cheng, D Liu, and B Chen, Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode[J]. J. Semicond., 2025, accepted doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

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Transport mechanism of oxide-based programmable diode

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

CSTR: 10.1088/1674-4926/25090006

1.
College of Integrated Circuits, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
2.
Polytechnic Institution, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
3.
School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
4.
Hangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Hangzhou 311231, China

More Information

Junru Qu got his bachelor's degree in 2022 from Zhejiang University. Now he is a doctoral student at Zhejiang University under the supervision of Prof. Bing Chen and Prof. Ran Cheng. His research focuses on CMOS reliability and emerging nonvolatile memories
Bing Chen (S'11–M'14) received the B.S. degree from Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University, Beijing, China, in 2014. He is currently a Professor with the Hangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Hangzhou 311231, China. His research interests mainly include emerging memories and computing-in-memory
Corresponding author: chenbing@xidian.edu.cn
Received Date: 2025-09-04
Revised Date: 2025-10-11

Available Online: 2025-10-28

Abstract

Abstract

In this work, the oxide-based programmable diodes (PDs) with structure of TiN/HfO₂/Si/Al are fabricated, and its electron transport mechanisms are investigated. Electrical measurements results depicted that the conduction and rectification performance of oxide-based PDs are mainly controlled by the interface between oxygen vacancies (VOs) consisted filament and semiconductor electrode. The local density of state in filament and band-bending of the PDs are calculated by first-principal simulation. The electron transport in oxide PDs is dominated by Poole−Frenkel emission under forward bias, while under negative bias, the PDs behave like a reverse Schottky-diode. These mechanisms research is necessary for device optimization and circuit design of oxide-based PDs.
- diode,
- oxide,
- resistive switching

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References(26)