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The negative differential resistance (NDR) response of Nb/NbOx/Pt cross-point devices is shown to have a polarity dependence due to the effect of the metal/oxide Schottky barriers on the contact resistance. Three distinct responses are observed under opposite polarity testing: bipolar S-type NDR, bipolar snap-back NDR, and combined S-type and snap-back NDR, depending on the stoichiometry of the oxide film and device area. In-situ thermoreflectance imaging is used to show that these NDR responses are associated with strong current localisation, thereby justifying the use of a previously developed two-zone, core shell thermal model of the device. The observed polarity dependent NDR responses, and their dependence on stoichiometry and area are then explained by extending this model to include the effect of the polarity dependent contact resistance. This study provides an improved understanding of the NDR response of metal/oxide/metal structures and informs the engineering of devices for neuromorphic computing and non-volatile memory applications.

Electroforming is used to initiate the memristive response in metal/oxide/metal devices by creating a filamentary conduction path in the oxide film. Here we use a simple photoresist-based detection technique to map the spatial distribution of conductive filaments formed in Nb/NbOx/Pt devices, and correlate these with current-voltage characteristics and in-situ thermoreflectance measurements to identify distinct modes of electroforming in low and high conductivity NbOx films. In low conductivity films the filaments are randomly distributed within the oxide film, consistent with a field-induced weakest-link mechanism, while in high conductivity films they are concentrated in the center of the film. In the latter case the current-voltage characteristics and in-situ thermoreflectance imaging show that electroforming is associated with current bifurcation into regions of low and high current density. This is supported by finite element modelling of the current distribution and shown to be consistent with predictions of a simple core-shell model of the current distribution. These results clearly demonstrate two distinct modes of electroforming in the same materials system and show that the dominant mode depends on the conductivity of the film, with field-induced electroforming dominant in low conductivity films and current-bifurcation induced electroforming dominant in high conductivity films. Finally, we demonstrate S-type and snap-back negative differential resistance in the high conductivity films and explain this behavior in terms of two-zone model.

In-situ thermo-reflectance imaging is used to show that the discontinuous, snap-back mode of current-controlled negative differential resistance (CC-NDR) in NbOx-based devices is a direct consequence of current localization and redistribution. Current localisation is shown to result from the creation of a conductive filament either during electroforming or from current bifurcation due to the super-linear temperature dependence of the film conductivity. The snap-back response then arises from current redistribution between regions of low and high current-density due to the rapid increase in conductivity created within the high current density region. This redistribution is further shown to depend on the relative resistance of the low current-density region with the characteristics of NbOx cross-point devices transitioning between continuous and discontinuous snap-back modes at critical values of film conductivity, area, thickness and temperature, as predicted. These results clearly demonstrate that snap-back is a generic response that arises from current localization and redistribution within the oxide film rather than a material-specific phase transition, thus resolving a long-standing controversy., Comment: 21 Pages

This work builds on the previous introduction [1] of a coupled experimental-computational system devised to fully characterize the thermal behavior of complex 3D submicron electronic devices. The new system replaces the laser-based surface temperature scanning approach with a CCD camera-based approach. As before, the thermo-reflectance thermography system is used to non-invasively measure with submicron resolution the 2D surface temperature field of an activated device. The measured temperature field is then used as input for an ultra-fast inverse computational solution to fully characterize the thermal behavior of the complex three-dimensional device. For the purposes of this investigation, basic micro-heater devices were built, activated, and measured. In order to quantitatively validate the coupled experimental-computational system, the system was used to extract geometric features of a known device, thus assessing the system's ability to combine measured experimental results and computations to fully characterize complex 3D electronic devices., Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions)