Ta2O5/TaOx heterostructure has become a leading oxide layer in memory cells and/or a bidirectional
selector for resistive random access memory (RRAM). Although atomic layer deposition (ALD) was
found to be uniquely suitable for depositing uniform and conformal films on complex topographies, it
is hard to use ALD to grow suboxide TaOx layer. In this study, tantalum oxide films with a
composition of Ta2O5 were grown by ALD. Using Arþ ion irradiation, the suboxide was formed in
the top layer of Ta2O5 films by observing the Ta core level shift toward lower binding energy with
angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By controlling the energy and irradiation time of
an Arþ ion beam, Ta2O5/TaOx heterostructure can be reliably produced on ALD films, which provides
a way to fabricate the critical switching layers of RRAM.
License type:
PublisherCopyrights
Funding Info:
Description:
Copyright (2015) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 031602 (2015) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4906395.