Improved Switching Speed and Current Density of Conductive Bridge Threshold Switch Devices by Ag2Se Layer

The large-scale 3-D crosspoint memory has received immense attention. However, the issue of crosstalk resulting from leakage current significantly impacts the memory cells. Conductive bridge threshold switching (CBTS) selector offers high selectivity and reduced leakage current, which can address this issue. Nevertheless, the limited switching speed and low current density (
${J}_{\text {ON}}$
) hinder its wider application. It is crucial to enhance the switching performance of CBTS. We propose a system that utilized Ag+ as the conductive filaments (CFs) to improve
${J}_{\text {ON}}$
and switching speed of the devices. This work demonstrates the excellent performance of a Pt/Ag2Se/GeSe/Pt device. It exhibits ultrahigh selectivity (
$10^{{10}}$
), high drive current
${I}_{\text {drive}}$
(6 mA), and higher
${J}_{\text {ON}}$
(15 mA/cm2). Furthermore, the device exhibits improved switching speed
${t}_{\text {ON}}$
/
${t}_{\text {OFF}}$
(70/50 ns) and an extremely steep switching slope (SS <0.15 mV/dec). This selector shows threshold switching (TS) behavior by introducing Ag2Se as the ion supply layer. It can inject Ag+ ions into the GeSe layer to form CFs at high voltage and retract Ag+ ions at low voltage. This CBTS selector achieves the significant enhancements in the switching speed and current density.