Electrothermal analysis of 3D memristive 1D-1RRAM crossbar with carbon nanotube electrodes

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is a promising candidate for the next generation nonvolatile memory technology. Conventional materials so far used for RRAM technology suffer from a severe issue related to the temperature increase. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of mitigating such a problem by exploiting the excellent properties of novel nanostructured materials, such as the Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs). To this end, a 3D 1Diode-1RRAM crossbar is here analyzed, comparing conventional Ni metal electrodes to novel CNT ones. Accurate temperature-dependent electrical and thermal conductivities are used to simulate the behavior of the materials. An electrothermal analysis performed by means of a full 3D numerical model of such a structure provides the voltage and temperature distributions over the 3D 1D-1RRAM crossbar. The use of CNT electrodes is demonstrated to provide excellent uniformity in the voltage distribution, good electrical current pathways distribution and a temperature reduction more than 300K over the baseline crossbar design.