Scanning Thermal Microscopy method for self-heating in non-linear devices and application to current filaments in resistive RAM

Abstract: Resistive RAM (RRAM) devices are candidates for neuromorphic computing devices in which the functionality lies in the formation and reversible rupture and gap-closing of conducting filaments in insulating layers. To explore the thermal properties of these nanoscale filaments, Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) can be employed. However, since RRAM devices, as well as many other neuromorphic device types, have a non-linear resistance-voltage relationship, the high resolution and quantitative method of AC-modulated SThM cannot readily be used. To this end, an extended non-equilibrium scheme for temperature measurement using SThM is proposed, with which the self-heating of non-linear devices is studied without the need for calibrating the tip-sample contact for a specific material combination, geometry or roughness. Both a DC and an AC voltage are applied to the device, triggering a periodic temperature rise, which enables the simultaneous calculation of the tip-sample thermal resistance and the device temperature rise. The method is applied to $\mathrm{HfO_2}$-based RRAM devices to extract properties like the number of current filaments, thermal confinement and thermal cross-talk. This approach could be applied to other thermometry techniques, including infrafred imaging and Raman thermometry.