Thermal Crosstalk Analysis in ReRAM Passive Crossbar Arrays

As the packing density of resistive random access memory (ReRAM) devices increases, the effect of thermal crosstalk across the devices in a crossbar array arrangement influences their overall operation significantly. The electro-thermal effects in a densely packed ReRAM crossbar can accelerate the retention and endurance degradation; hence poses a serious reliability threat. This paper systematically investigates the electro-thermal effects in passive ReRAM crossbar arrays using COMSOL multi-physics simulations. Furthermore, we propose a methodology to model the thermal cross-talk effect and incorporate it in a SPICE-compatible physics-based ReRAM compact model. Finally, we demonstrate the impact of thermal coupling on ReRAM crossbar array operation in terms of vector-matrix multiplication using calibrated SPICE simulations.