Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aeschlimann, Jan, Durch, Fabian, Weilenmann, Christoph, Emboras, Alexandros, Luisier, Mathieu, Leuthold, Juerg
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10034
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917264659316736
author Aeschlimann, Jan
Durch, Fabian
Weilenmann, Christoph
Emboras, Alexandros
Luisier, Mathieu
Leuthold, Juerg
author_facet Aeschlimann, Jan
Durch, Fabian
Weilenmann, Christoph
Emboras, Alexandros
Luisier, Mathieu
Leuthold, Juerg
contents We present a multiscale simulation framework to compute the current vs. voltage (I-V ) characteristics of metal/oxide/metal structures building the core of conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM) cells and to shed light on their resistance switching properties. The approach relies on a finite element model whose input material parameters are extracted either from ab initio or from machine-learned empirical calculations. The applied techniques range from molecular dynamics and nudged elastic band to electronic and thermal quantum transport. Such an approach drastically reduces the number of fitting parameters needed and makes the resulting modeling environment more accurate than traditional ones. The developed computational framework is then applied to the investigation of an Ag/a-SiO2/Pt CBRAM, reproducing experimental data very well. Moreover, the relevance of Joule heating is assessed by considering various cell geometries. It is found that self-heating manifests itself in devices with thin conductive filaments with few-nanometer diameters and at current concentrations in the 10s-microampere range. With the proposed methodology it is now possible to explore the potential of not-yet fabricated memory cells and to reliably optimize their design.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_10034
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multiscale Modeling of Metal/Oxide/Metal Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory Cells: from Ab Initio to Finite Element Calculations
Aeschlimann, Jan
Durch, Fabian
Weilenmann, Christoph
Emboras, Alexandros
Luisier, Mathieu
Leuthold, Juerg
Materials Science
We present a multiscale simulation framework to compute the current vs. voltage (I-V ) characteristics of metal/oxide/metal structures building the core of conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM) cells and to shed light on their resistance switching properties. The approach relies on a finite element model whose input material parameters are extracted either from ab initio or from machine-learned empirical calculations. The applied techniques range from molecular dynamics and nudged elastic band to electronic and thermal quantum transport. Such an approach drastically reduces the number of fitting parameters needed and makes the resulting modeling environment more accurate than traditional ones. The developed computational framework is then applied to the investigation of an Ag/a-SiO2/Pt CBRAM, reproducing experimental data very well. Moreover, the relevance of Joule heating is assessed by considering various cell geometries. It is found that self-heating manifests itself in devices with thin conductive filaments with few-nanometer diameters and at current concentrations in the 10s-microampere range. With the proposed methodology it is now possible to explore the potential of not-yet fabricated memory cells and to reliably optimize their design.
title Multiscale Modeling of Metal/Oxide/Metal Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory Cells: from Ab Initio to Finite Element Calculations
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10034