X-ray spectromicroscopy investigation of soft and hard breakdown in RRAM devices.

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is considered an attractive candidate for next generation memory devices due to its competitive scalability, low-power operation and high switching speed. The technology however, still faces several challenges that overall prohibit its industrial translation, such as low yields, large switching variability and ultimately hard breakdown due to long-term operation or high-voltage biasing. The latter issue is of particular interest, because it ultimately leads to device failure. In this work, we have investigated the physicochemical changes that occur within RRAM devices as a consequence of soft and hard breakdown by combining full-field transmission x-ray microscopy with soft x-ray spectroscopic analysis performed on lamella samples. The high lateral resolution of this technique (down to 25 nm) allows the investigation of localized nanometric areas underneath permanent damage of the metal top electrode. Results show that devices after hard breakdown present discontinuity in the active layer, Pt inclusions and the formation of crystalline phases such as rutile, which indicates that the temperature increased locally up to 1000 K.

Quantum conductance in silicon oxide resistive memory devices.

Resistive switching offers a promising route to universal electronic memory, potentially replacing current technologies that are approaching their fundamental limits. In many cases switching originates from the reversible formation and dissolution of nanometre-scale conductive filaments, which constrain the motion of electrons, leading to the quantisation of device conductance into multiples of the fundamental unit of conductance, G0. Such quantum effects appear when the constriction diameter approaches the Fermi wavelength of the electron in the medium - typically several nanometres. Here we find that the conductance of silicon-rich silica (SiOx) resistive switches is quantised in half-integer multiples of G0. In contrast to other resistive switching systems this quantisation is intrinsic to SiOx, and is not due to drift of metallic ions. Half-integer quantisation is explained in terms of the filament structure and formation mechanism, which allows us to distinguish between systems that exhibit integer and half-integer quantisation.

Investigation of quartz grain surface textures by atomic force microscopy for forensic analysis.

This paper presents a study of quartz sand grain surface textures using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to image the surface. Until now scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has provided the primary technique used in the forensic surface texture analysis of quartz sand grains as a means of establishing the provenance of the grains for forensic reconstructions. The ability to independently corroborate the grain type classifications is desirable and provides additional weight to the findings of SEM analysis of the textures of quartz grains identified in forensic soil/sediment samples. AFM offers a quantitative means of analysis that complements SEM examination, and is a non-destructive technique that requires no sample preparation prior to scanning. It therefore has great potential to be used for forensic analysis where sample preservation is highly valuable. By taking quantitative topography scans, it is possible to produce 3D representations of microscopic surface textures and diagnostic features for examination. Furthermore, various empirical measures can be obtained from analysing the topography scans, including arithmetic average roughness, root-mean-square surface roughness, skewness, kurtosis, and multiple gaussian fits to height distributions. These empirical measures, combined with qualitative examination of the surfaces can help to discriminate between grain types and provide independent analysis that can corroborate the morphological grain typing based on the surface textures assigned using SEM. Furthermore, the findings from this study also demonstrate that quartz sand grain surfaces exhibit a statistically self-similar fractal nature that remains unchanged across scales. This indicates the potential for a further quantitative measure that could be utilised in the discrimination of quartz grains based on their provenance for forensic investigations.

Magnetoresistive phenomena in an Fe-filled carbon nanotube/elastomer composite.

DC magnetoresistive effects were observed in above-percolation-threshold loaded Fe-filled carbon nanotube/polyurethane-urea composite samples. A phenomenological model is derived from interpretation of resistance relaxation for a range of axial strains. The large instantaneous magnetoresistance of + 90% observed at low axial strain was a result of conduction pathway breaking caused by preferential orientation of the conducting nanotubes perpendicular to the axial current flow: a result of the magnetic torque experienced by the ferromagnetic nanotube core. At large strain the observed large instantaneous change in resistance of - 90% resulted from voltage-driven relaxation in the conducting nanotube network. At high axial strain the competition between voltage-driven relaxation and a magnetic torque gave rise to an oscillatory component of resistance relaxation.