Analytical Modeling of Read-Induced SET-State Conductance Change in a Hafnium-Oxide Resistive Switching Device

A SET-state conductance change in a hafnium-oxide resistive switching memory cell due to repeated read events is investigated. We characterize a read-induced conductance change at different read voltages and SET-state conductance levels. Our result shows that the read-induced conductance degradation exhibits a two-stage evolution with the read pulse number. A SET-state conductance decreases slightly in the first stage and then follows inverse power-law dependence on the read number in the second stage. The power factor is an exponential function of a read voltage without regard to the SET-state conductance level, and the read pulse number at the transition of the two stages is related to a read voltage and conductance level. An analytical model to describe the two-stage conductance evolution is proposed. The parameters in the model are extracted from measurement data. Our model is verified by good agreement between the modeled and measured results in a wide range of read pulse number, read voltage, and SET-state conductance level.