Photon Emission Microscopy of HfO2 ReRAM Cells

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the use of spontaneous Photon Emission Microscopy (PEM) for observing filaments formed in HfO2 Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM) cells. A CCD and an InGaAs camera can be used to quickly observe photon emission in both reverse (reset) and forward (set) bias conditions. An electric field model and a uniform Poisson spatial distribution model are used to explain the intensity and location of the experimental data. Single filament fluctuations and multiple filaments are also observed for the first time.