Memristor Compact Model with Oxygen-Vacancy Concentration as State Variable

Abstract

We present a unique compact model for oxide memristors, based upon the concentration of oxygen vacancies as state variables. In this model, the increase (decrease) in oxygen vacancy concentration is similar in effect to the reduction (expansion) of the tunnel gap used as a state variable in existing compact models, providing a mechanism for the electronic current to increase (decrease) based upon the polarity of the applied voltage. Rate equations defining the dynamics of state variables are obtained from simplifications of a recent manuscript in which electronic processes (i.e., electron capture/emission) were combined with atomic processes (i.e., Frenkel pair generation/recombination, diffusion) stemming from the thermochemical model of dielectric breakdown. Central to the proposed model is the effect of the electron occupancy of oxygen vacancy traps on resistive switching dynamics. The electronic current is calculated considering Ohmic, band-to-band, and bound-to-band contributions. The model includes uniform self-heating with Joule-heating and conductive loss terms. The model is calibrated using experimental current-voltage characteristics for HfO2 memristors with different electrode materials. Though a general model is presented, a delta-shaped density of states profile for oxygen vacancies is found capable of accurately representing experimental data while providing a minimal description of bound to band transitions. The model is implemented in Verilog-A and tested using read/write operations in a 4x4 1T1R nonvolatile memory array to evaluate its ability to perform circuit simulations of practical interest. A particular benefit is that the model does not make strong assumptions regarding filament geometry of which scant experimental-evidence exists to support.