Annealing induced cation diffusion in TaOx-based memristor and its compatibility for back-end-of-line post-processing

The effect of annealing on the switching characteristics of memristor devices cannot be overlooked because the thermal process can exhibit both positive and negative effects on the performance of the devices. We investigated the switching behavior of TaOx-based memristors (electrochemical metallization cell type, ECM) that were Ar-ambient annealed under two conditions, with and without the active electrode. We found a high concentration of metal species in the TaOx films, even in the device where the TaOx was annealed without the active top electrode. This indicates that the properties of the annealed films encourage the diffusion of metal species in the oxide. We suggest that the increase in non-lattice oxygen (by 4.1%, indicating a higher concentration of Vo defects) after the annealing process plays a role in this phenomenon. In addition, the concentration of metal species that exist prior to the switching activation as well as the structure of the conducting bridge determines the switching stability of the devices. The device that annealed before top electrode deposition shows the worst stability; conversely, the device that annealed after top electrode deposition has the best coefficient of variation of the LRS and HRS which is 4.69% and 78.8%, respectively. Electrical and materials analyses were conducted to understand this phenomenon. This study provides insight into the compatibility of ECM in CMOS post-processing.