Analytical analysis of the generic SET and RESET characteristics of electrochemical metallization memory cells

We report on an analytical model which describes the bipolar resistive switching in electrochemical metallization cells. To simulate the resistive switching, we modeled the growth and dissolution of a metallic filament together with electron tunneling between the growing filament and the counter electrode. The model accounts for the controllability of the low resistive state and the RESET current by tuning the SET current. By analytical analysis the relevant conditions for these generic characteristics are identified. In addition, an explanation for the asymmetry in the SET and RESET switching characteristics is presented. The results of the analytical analysis is generalized to all types of ReRAMs.