Nitrogen Buffering Effect on Oxygen in Indium-Tin-Oxide-Capped Resistive Random Access Memory With NH3 Treatment

In this letter, we demonstrate the differing influences of a nitrogen buffering effect in both the switching layer and the indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode layer of resistive random access memory (RRAM) which has undergone an NH
₃
treatment. The nitrogen buffering effect in the switching layer cannot counteract the electric field force, leading to similar
$I$
–
$V$
characteristics compared with the ITO/Hf:SiO
₂
/TiN control structure RRAM. The nitrogen in the ITO electrode layer, however, works as an oxygen buffer and makes it easier for the redox reaction to occur, leading to improvements in performance, such as concentrated voltages and better endurance.