Improved Switching Variability and Stability by Activating a Single Conductive Filament

We successfully fabricated a single-filament-activated resistive memory having limited conductive filament (CF) source through a novel fabrication technique. The formation of a single filament was confirmed using conductive atomic force microscopy. Compared to conventional programmable metallization cell devices having an unlimited CF source, our single-filament device showed a significantly improved switching variability by minimizing the probability of randomly formed CFs. The elimination of unlimited CF sources changed the rate-limiting parameter that determines the retention and disturbance properties and improved thermal and electrical stability.