Investigation of the Electrode Materials in Conductive Bridging RAM from First-Principle

Conductive bridging random access memories (CBRAM) are emerging non-volatile data storage devices whose switching mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we present a modelling framework based on ab-initio simulations to investigate CBRAM cells. It combines density-functional theory and the Non-equilibrium Greens Function formalism. Realistic metallic filaments connecting two electrodes are constructed and their ballistic transport characteristics studied. For a given filament the type of counter electrode material has little influence on the magnitude of the ON-state current, but affects its spatial distribution. The conductance mainly depends on the material of the active electrode and the shape of the thinnest part of the filament.