Effects of high-pressure hydrogen annealing on the formation of conducting filaments in filament-type resistive random-access memory

Accurate control of formation of conducting filaments is one of the most important challenges to solve in order to achieve improved switching characteristics in resistive random-access memory (ReRAM). In this regard, high-pressure hydrogen annealing (HPHA) can be an effective method for accurate control because it can induce in the ReRAM the formation of oxygen vacancies and OH^- bonds, the main factors that influence conducting filament formation. Among the various switching processes, the forming process, which represents the first formation of a conducting filament, was investigated to clarify the effects of HPHA on the formation of conducting filaments. HPHA-treated samples were found to exhibit more accurately controlled resistance of the conducting filament, owing to accurate control of the forming process, compared with samples not treated by HPHA.