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 CRC FOCUS

3D Integration of
Resistive Switching
Memory
EDITED BY
QING LUO
 3D Integration of Resistive
Switching Memory

This book offers a thorough exploration of the three-dimensional integration

of resistive memory in all aspects, from the materials, devices, array-level
issues, and integration structures to its applications.

Resistive random-access memory (RRAM) is one of the most promising

candidates for next-generation nonvolatile memory applications owing to its
superior characteristics including simple structure, high switching speed, low
power consumption, and compatibility with standard complementary metal
oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. To achieve large-scale, high-density
integration of RRAM, the 3D cross array is undoubtedly the ideal choice. This
book introduces the 3D integration technology of RRAM, and breaks it down
into five parts:

1 Associative Problems in Crossbar array and 3D architectures;

2 Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells;
3 Integration of 3D RRAM;
4 Reliability Issues in 3D RRAM;
5 Applications of 3D RRAM beyond Storage.

The book aspires to provide a relevant reference for students, researchers,

engineers, and professionals working with resistive random-access memory
or those interested in 3D integration technology in general.

Qing Luo received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences (IMECAS), Beijing, China, in 2017. He is currently
Professor at the Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Devices and Integrated
Technology in IMECAS. His research interests are emerging memory devices
including resistive RAM devices and ferroelectric memory devices.
Frontiers in Semiconductor Technology
Chief Editor: Sheng-Kai Wang
Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, hereinafter
IMECAS

Editorial Board Members:

Hong Dong (Nankai University, China)
Xuan-Wu Kang (IMECAS)
Bo Li (IMECAS)
Xiaoyang Lin (Beihang University, China)
Xiuyan Li (Shanghai Jiaotong University, China)
Hongliang Lu (Fudan University, China)
Qing Luo (IMECAS)
Qing-Zhu Zhang (IMECAS)
Rui Zhang (Zhejiang University, China)
Yu Zhao (Harbin Institute of Technology, China)

Semiconductor technology has been perhaps the most prominent technology

industry in modern society over the past 70 years. Facing the future, emerging
technologies are constantly shaping the industry and promoting its continuous
development.

Outstanding young scientists from various technology sectors have been invited to
join this book series. Through this platform, the aim is for the books within the
series to provide new insights and contributions to the development of modern
semiconductor technology. The scope of the series is wide, covering semi­
conductor physics, materials, device processes, equipment, IC design methods
amid many other topics while studies involving case studies and applied settings
will also be prominent. The titles included in the series are designed to appeal to
students, researchers and professionals across semiconductor science and en­
gineering as well as interdisciplinary researchers from many scientific disciplines.

Titles in the series currently include:

Kinetic Studies in GeO2/Ge System

A Retrospective from 2021
Sheng-Kai Wang

Please contact us ([email protected], [email protected]) if you

have an idea for a book for the series.
 3D Integration of
Resistive Switching
Memory

Edited by
Qing Luo
First edition published 2023
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Qing Luo; individual chapters, the contributors

Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the
author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or
the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the
copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
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Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted,
reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and
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For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access
www.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are not available
on CCC please contact [email protected]
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.

ISBN: 978-1-032-48943-8 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-032-48950-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-39158-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003391586

Typeset in Times
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
Contents

List of Contributors vii

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Qing Luo

Chapter 2 Crosstalk in Crossbar Array and 3D

Architectures 5
Qing Luo

Chapter 3 Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 11

Yaxin Ding and Qing Luo

Chapter 4 Integration of 3D RRAM 39

Qing Luo

Chapter 5 Reliability Issues of the 3D Vertical RRAM 47

Tiancheng Gong and Dengyun Lei

Chapter 6 Applications of 3D RRAM beyond Storage 61

Xumeng Zhang, Xiaoxin Xu, and
Jianguo Yang

Chapter 7 Conclusion 97
Qing Luo

v
Contributors

Qing Luo Jianguo Yang

Professor at Institute of Associate Professor at Institute of
Microelectronics Microelectronics
Chinese Academy of Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
China China

Yaxin Ding Tiancheng Gong

Ph.D Candidate at Institute of Associate Professor at Institute of
Microelectronics Microelectronics
Chinese Academy of Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
China China

Xumeng Zhang Dengyun Lei

Associate Professor at Fudan Associate Professor at Guangdong
University University of Technology
China China

Xiaoxin Xu
Associate Professor at Institute of
Microelectronics
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China

vii
Introduction
1
Qing Luo

The development of social networking and the emergence of the Internet of

Things (IoT) have led to an explosion in global data volumes. According to a
report from Internet Data Center (IDC), as shown in Figure 1.1, the total
amount of global data volumes will reach 175 ZB by 2025. However, in
the traditional Von-Neumann architecture, there is a “memory wall” between
DRAM and NAND Flash, which limits the performance of the entire com-
puter system.
To tear down the “memory wall”, the solution of Storage Class Memory
(SCM) was first proposed by Intel Corporation. SCM acts as the bridge between
DRAM and NAND, which has a higher storage density than DRAM and a
higher access speed than NAND FLASH (Figure 1.2). To achieve high-density
SCM, memories are often required to have the advantage of three-dimensional
(3D) integration. In addition to the 3D stacking with conventional Flash
memory cells, some emerging memories, such as PCRAM and RRAM, have
intrinsic advantages for SCM applications.
According to the different integration methods, 3D crossbar arrays can be
classified into two types. One is a 3D X-point structure, which is a multi-layer
stack of planar crossbar arrays, and the other one is a vertical crossbar array
structure (3D VRRAM), which is similar to BICS 3D NAND. Each layer of
the crossed-array structure of the 3D X-point structure needs to be manu-
factured separately. The advantage of the 3D X-point structure is that the
storage density per unit area can be improved while the 3D stacked structure
is easy to integrate. For the vertical 3D structure of 3D VRRAM, the number
of lithograph does not increase significantly with the number of stacking

DOI: 10.1201/9781003391586-1 1
2 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

FIGURE 1.1 The total amount of global data.

FIGURE 1.2 Storage class memory.

layers increased, which significantly reduces the number of lithographs.

Compared to other multi-layer stacked structures, the costs can be signifi-
cantly diminished for 3D VRRAM.
In crossbar array structures, due to the exit of leakage currents, the
memory cell is usually connected in series with a selector to suppress the
disturbing effects. For 3D X-point structures, the integration of the selector
with the memory cell can be achieved easily by a planar process, whereas for
3D VRRAM structures, the integration of the selector is very difficult because
in vertical arrays, the bottom electrode of each memory cell column is formed
by a trench filling process and the selector cannot be integrated separately.
Therefore, the use of highly non-linear self-passed memory cells is the key to
the realisation of 3D VRRAM.
 1 • Introduction 3

This book introduces the 3D integration technology of RRAM, and it

basically breaks down into five parts:

Chapter 2: Crosstalk in Crossbar Array and 3D Architectures;

Chapter 3: Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells;
Chapter 4: Integration of 3D RRAM;
Chapter 5: Reliability Issues of the 3D Vertical RRAM;
Chapter 6: Applications of 3D RRAM beyond Storage.
Crosstalk in
Crossbar Array
and 3D
2
Architectures

Qing Luo
Contents
References, Bibliography, or Works Cited 10

The crossbar array structure,1–8 proposed as a memory architecture as early as six

decades ago, is a structure composed of a series of horizontally parallel electrodes
and some columns of longitudinal electrodes, with a layer of materials (RRAM,
PCM, MRAM, etc.) as shown in Figure 2.1. Assuming that the line width of the
upper and lower electrodes and the spacing between the parallel electrodes are
both F, the area of each point, therefore, is 4F2. If such a structure is stacked in
three dimensions, provided the number of stacked layers is L, the area of a single
device is only 4F2/L. The crossed-array structure is an “ideal” option for the high-
density integration of memories. Nevertheless, it is not widely adopted com-
mercially. One important reason for this is that the applications of cross-array
structures require device units that can meet many stringent requirements. At
each connection point, the memory device needs to be able to store data while
meeting the requirement of “nonlinearity”, so that the state of unselected devices
is not affected when the data is externally erased, and the data is not misread. The
device units in a cross point-array structure must be two-terminal devices, with
reliable, repeatable, and high on/off ratios.

DOI: 10.1201/9781003391586-2 5
6 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

FIGURE 2.1 Crosstalk in the crossed array.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, memories with the aforementioned fea-

tures have almost materialised. However, most two-terminal devices cannot
meet the requirement of “nonlinearity”. The crosstalk issues on failure to
satisfy the nonlinearity requirement will be discussed in the following.
Figure 2.1 illustrates a typical two-dimensional crossbar array. We intend to
read the resistance state of device 1 that we selected, with its top and
bottom electrodes applied with positive voltage and grounded, respectively.
Assuming that device 1 is in a high resistance state (HRS) and devices 2, 3,
and 4 are in a low resistance state (LRS), the red line marks a complete
current loop, so the current we read is the current flowing through devices
2, 3, and 4 and the resistance state is read as a low resistance state. This
misreading problem is known as crosstalk or sneaking current. Assuming
there is an array with m rows and n columns, there will be (m − 1) × (n − 1)
crosstalk loops, which means that the larger the array is, the more severe
the crosstalk problem gets. In the worst case,9 all unselected devices are
in the low resistance state and only selected devices are in the HRS, making
the problem much worse.
The reading crosstalk problem in large-scale crossbar arrays can be
understood by analysing the worst-case array. As in Figure 2.2, assuming
that there exists a crossed array with m rows and n columns and that the
ratio of high and low resistance states of resistive devices is β, for resistors
to be read as in an HRS, we assume that all other devices are in an LRS, and
for resistors to be read as in an LRS, we suppose that all other devices are in
an HRS. To avoid misreading, the HRS that we read must be higher than the
LRS, i.e.,
 2 • Crosstalk in Crossbar Array and 3D 7

FIGURE 2.2 m × n Crossbar array. (a) Worst-case equivalent circuit. (b) (c) R1, R2,
and R3 are equivalent resistors for the selected row, unselected row, and selected
column, respectively.

Ron Ron Ron

Roff // + + >
m 1 (m 1) (n 1) n 1
Roff Roff Roff
Ron // + + (2.1)
m 1 (m 1) (n 1) n 1

Hence

m 1 (n 1)
1 ( 1) > 0 (2.2)
m+n 1

Clearly the ratio of high and low resistance states β is greater than 1, so

2 (m 1) 2 (n 1)
n< or m < (2.3)
m 2 n 2
8 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

In other words, the maximum value of the matrix will not exceed 3 × 3 if n or m
is greater than 2, independent of the ratio of the high and low resistance states
β.10 In addition, the sneak current also increases the current in the word and bit
lines, which is exacerbated if the line resistance problem is considered,11 and
the power consumption also increases. It is worth noting that in the equivalent
circuit in Figure 2.2b, the value of R2 is much smaller than the values of R1 and
R3, and the voltage allocation across R1 and R3 is approximately V/2 (V is the
voltage applied to the selected device) when n equals m. Based on this principle,
it is possible to control the sneak current using a nonlinear device.
The same crosstalk problem exists during the write operation. In the case of
a 2 × 2 crossbar array (Figure 2.3a), when the SET voltage is applied to the
selected device (red device), almost the same voltage is applied to several
unselected devices, which may cause the unselected device (red device) to be
operated incorrectly by the SET voltage. This problem is called writing crosstalk.
Fortunately, this type of crosstalk can be avoided by a specific write operation
mode, e.g. V/2 write or V/3 write12,13 (Figure 2.3). Under these write operation
modes, there is a significant voltage difference between the selected and
unselected devices, which effectively reduces the probability of write crosstalk.
However, the two modes of write operation raise a new problem on reliability for
unselected memory devices: the write disturbance issue, i.e. the ability of the
unselected region to constantly withstand 1/2 or 1/3 of the write voltage.
To eliminate the read crosstalk and enhance the integrated density of the
memory, one ideal way is to connect a two-terminal selector to the two-
terminal memories in a series. The functions of the selector are to reduce the
leakage current in the potential sneak paths. This function is realised in light
of two important features of the sneak paths. First, at least one device in the
conductive path is inversely conductive. Second, the full voltage is applied to
at least three devices in series.

FIGURE 2.3 (a) Equivalent circuit scheme of the 2 × 2 crossbar array. (b) Scheme
of the write operation voltage configuration.
 2 • Crosstalk in Crossbar Array and 3D 9

This means that there are at least two sorts of selectors available that can get
rid of the read crosstalk. One type of selector can allow the forward voltage to
pass through to suppress the reverse voltage, which are asymmetrical devices,
such as diodes; the other type of selector is turned on at high voltage and closed at
low voltage, which is a nonlinear device, such as mixed-ionic electron conduction
(MIEC) device. Besides, automotive rectifier devices, self-gated devices, and
complementary resistive switching devices can suppress leakage currents as well.
To support high-density integration of memory crossbar arrays, an ideal
selector should have a range of necessary features. And of them, some major
ones are shown in the following article.

1. On-state current density: To conduct the current for the memory to

erase and write, each selector connected in series on the memory
must be able to withstand high currents (no breakdown). To con-
duct a high current over a small cross-sectional area, the device
needs to be able to bear a high current density (>1 MA/cm2).
2. Off-state leakage current: The leakage current in unselected devices
needs to be remarkably smaller than the on-state current, to effec-
tively control the leakage current through all unselected devices.
3. Nonlinearity: On/off current ratio. Nonlinearity indicates the ability
of the selector to limit leakage current. The larger the nonlinearity
is, the larger the size of the crossbar array can be. Nonlinearity is
defined as I@Vread/I@1/2Vread (assuming the read voltage is Vread,
I@Vread indicates the current value at voltage Vread.)
4. Bidirectional operation: RRAM devices with the bidirectional
operation have better fatigue resistance and lower power consump-
tion. As the selector is used in a crossbar array that can be applied to
various types of memory, it needs to support bidirectional operation.
5. Back end of line (BEOL) compatibility: BEOL compatibility means
that the device must be made under less than 400 °C during the
manufacturing process, and the selector must be able to withstand
the high temperature of more than 400 °C for more than two hours.
6. Others: Because the characterisation of the selector must not limit
the characterisation and reliability of the storage unit, all other
properties of the selector must outperform those of the memory
cells. These properties include turn-on speed, fatigue character-
istics, yield in the array, uniformity, etc.

The above requirements explain why it is such a demanding task to produce a

perfectly suitable selector that can be applied to large-scale 3D integration of
resistance-type memory. Next chapter will introduce a series of reported
selectors and analyse their advantages and disadvantages.
10 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

REFERENCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, OR
WORKS CITED
[1] G.W. Burr, R.S. Shenoy, and H. Hwang, “Select device concepts for crossbar
arrays,” Resistive Switching: From Fundamentals of Nanoionic Redox
Processes to Memristive Device Applications, pp. 623–660, 2016.
[2] W.E.P. Goodwin, Electric connecting device: U.S. Patent 2,667,542[P].
1954-1-26.
[3] M.M. Ziegler, and M.R. Stan, “Design and analysis of crossbar circuits for
molecular nanoelectronics,” Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE Conference on
Nanotechnology, Washington, DC, USA, 2002, pp. 323–327.
[4] I.G. Baek et al., “Multi-layer cross-point binary oxide resistive memory
(OxRRAM) for post-NAND storage application,” IEEE International Electron
Devices Meeting, 2005. IEDM Technical Digest., Washington, DC, USA, 2005,
pp. 750–753.
[5] M.‐J. Lee et al., “2-stack 1D-1R Cross-point Structure with Oxide Diodes as
Switch Elements for High Density Resistance RAM Applications,” 2007
IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, Washington, DC, USA, 2007,
pp. 771–774.
[6] Y. Bai, H. Wu, R. Wu, et al., “Study of multi-level characteristics for 3D vertical
resistive switching memory[J],” Scientific Reports, vol. 4, p. 5780, 2014.
[7] S. Yu, H.Y. Chen, B. Gao, et al., “HfOx-based vertical resistive switching
random access memory suitable for bit-cost-effective three-dimensional
cross-point architecture[J],” ACS Nano, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 2320–2325, 2013.
[8] W.C. Chien et al., “Multi‐layer sidewall WOX resistive memory suitable for
3D ReRAM,” 2012 Symposium on VLSI Technology (VLSIT), Honolulu, HI,
USA, 2012, pp. 153–154.
[9] J.Y. Seok, S.J. Song, J.H. Yoon, et al., “A review of three‐dimensional
resistive switching cross‐bar array memories from the integration and mate-
rials property points of view[J],” Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 24,
no. 34, pp. 5316–5339, 2014.
[10] A. Flocke and T.G. Noll, “Fundamental analysis of resistive nano-
crossbars for the use in hybrid Nano/CMOS-memory,” ESSCIRC 2007 -
33rd European Solid-State Circuits Conference, Munich, Germany, 2007,
pp. 328–331.
[11] C.L. Lo, T.H. Hou, M.C. Chen, et al., “Dependence of read margin on pull-up
schemes in high-density one selector–one resistor crossbar array[J],” IEEE
Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 420–426, 2013.
[12] S. Yu, J. Liang, Y. Wu, et al., “Read/write schemes analysis for novel
complementary resistive switches in passive crossbar memory arrays[J],”
Nanotechnology, vol. 21, no. 46, p. 465202, 2010.
[13] P.O. Vontobel, W. Robinett, P.J. Kuekes, et al., “Writing to and reading from
a nano-scale crossbar memory based on memristors[J],” Nanotechnology,
vol. 20, no. 42, p. 425204, 2009.
Selector
Devices and
Self-Selective
3
Cells

Yaxin Ding and Qing Luo

Contents
3.1 Nonlinear Selector Devices 12
3.1.1 Tunnel Barrier-Based/Type Selector 12
3.1.2 Metal Conductive Filament-Based Threshold Switching
Selector 14
3.1.3 Metal Insulator Transition Selector 16
3.1.4 Ovonic Threshold Switch Selector 20
3.2 Self-Selective Devices 24
3.2.1 Self-Rectifying RRAM 25
3.2.2 Built-in nonlinearity RRAM 28
3.2.2.1 SSC with Threshold Type Selection Layer 28
3.2.2.2 SSC with Exponential Type Selection Layer 30
References, Bibliography, or Works Cited 33

DOI: 10.1201/9781003391586-3 11
12 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

3.1 NONLINEAR SELECTOR DEVICES

Several access devices such as transistors and diodes have been proposed to
solve the leakage current and crosstalk problems of the memory array with a
crossbar array.1–5 However, transistor-based access devices have a large cell
size, which can hinder the high-density integration of memory. The stackable
one diode–one resistor (1D1R) cell structure is considered one of the most
attractive solutions because it is compatible with the 4F2 crossbar array.6,7
But the diode-based access devices, which are not unsuited to bipolar
memories, can only be operated in one direction. Only selector devices with
both high nonlinearity and fast switching speed can be a potential candidate
for constructing three-dimension memory arrays. Moreover, ideal selector
devices have several other critical characteristics such as low off-state leakage
current, high on-state current density, bidirectional switching, and so on.8–10
The low off-state current can suppress the leakage current and crosstalk effect
of the memory array. The high on-state current density can supply high drive
current to programme and erase the memory element. The selector devices
need to be capable of bidirectional switching because most memories need to
operate in bipolar mode. So far, various selector devices have been widely
studied for high-density memory arrays.

3.1.1 Tunnel Barrier-Based/Type Selector

Uniformity is critical for the selector due to the read region of the selector is highly
dependent on the threshold switching voltage range (Vth min to Vth max).11 In
order to read the memory array successfully under the commonly used V/2 bias
configuration, the minimum read voltage window should be smaller than the Vth
min.12 When pure electron conduction and the absence of ion movement or
structure modification occur during the operation, tunnel barrier stacks show
terrific uniformity.13,14 Thus, the tunnel barrier-based selective device with ex-
cellent uniformity can be a promising candidate for the selector, which can be
created by using a thin oxide layer (HfO2, TaOx, ZrO2, and TiO2)15,16 or a nitride
layer as a tunnelling barrier. The tunnel barrier can be engineered by stacking
multilayer dielectrics. The design of the multilayer dielectrics is critical for cre-
ating a selection device with both high uniformity and high nonlinearity because
the nonlinearity of the interface type selector is not as satisfying as that of a
filamentary type device. Huang et al.13 fabricated a bipolar nonlinear selector
with a rectangular energy band structure by using a simple Ni/TiO2/Ni
metal–insulator–metal stacking (Figure 3.1a). As shown in Figure 3.1b, over six
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 13

FIGURE 3.1 Schematic diagram of (a) rectangular energy band structure and (b)
IV characteristics of the bipolar Ni/TiO2/Ni MIM selector; (c) crested band structure
and (d) IV characteristics of a Pt/TaOx/TiO2/TaOx/Pt stack; (e) trapezoidal band
structure and (f) typical I-V characteristics of the TaOx-based selector. 3.1(a, c, e)
Reprinted/adapted by permission from [Springer Nature Customer Service Centre
GmbH]: [Nano Research, Springer Nature] [Highly uniform and nonlinear selection
device based on trapezoidal band structure for high density nano-crossbar
memory array] by [Qing Luo et al.][COPYRIGHT] (2017). 3.1(b) © [2011] IEEE.
Reprinted, with permission, from [Jiun-Jia Huang, Bipolar Nonlinear Ni/TiO2/Ni
Selector for 1S1R crossbar array applications, IEEE Electron Device Letters, and
Oct. 1, 2011]. 3.1(f) © [2016] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [Qing Luo,
Fully BEOL compatible TaOx-based selector with high uniformity and robust
performance, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2016]. 3.1(d) Reprinted (adapted)
with permission from [W. Lee, et al., “High current density and nonlinearity
combination of selection device based on TaOx/TiO2/TaOx structure for one
selector–one resistor arrays,” ACS Nano, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 8166–8172, Sep. 25,
2012]. © [2012] American Chemical Society.

orders of magnitude of current increase for a voltage swing from 0 to ±2 V are

realised and breakdown voltage larger than 4 V is also achieved. But the max-
imum barrier height (Umax) changes slowly in the rectangular energy band
structure with the uniform barrier, which is unable to meet the requirements of
highly nonlinear selector devices. Lee et al.14 demonstrated a high-performance
selection device based on TaOx/TiO2/TaOx structure. As shown in Figure 3.1c,
the energy band of the TiO2 film is symmetrically bent at the top and bottom
TaOx/TiO2 interfaces due to the gradual diffusion of some Ta atoms into the TiO2
film, thus achieving a crested oxide barrier. Compared with the rectangular en-
ergy band structure, the highest part of the crested energy band structure (in the
middle) is pulled down by the electric field more quickly (Umax(V) = Umax(0) –
eV/2).12 As a result, the tunnelling current through a crested energy barrier could
increase dramatically compared with the tunnelling current through a uniform
barrier, which remarkably improves nonlinearity. As shown in Figure 3.1d, high
14 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

current density over 107 A/cm2 and outstanding nonlinearity up to 104 were
successfully achieved. And a trapezoidal energy barrier is demonstrated, in which
both the tunnelling current and thermionic emission current can increase dra-
matically under the electric field. Therefore, the selective devices with trapezoidal
energy barriers display higher nonlinearity than selective devices with a crested
energy barrier. The trapezoidal energy barrier could be formed in composite
semiconductors. The barrier shape could be achieved by modulating the doping17
or by gradually changing the composition of the layer during the epitaxy
process.18 The formation of “staircase” potential patterns also helps to obtain
trapezoidal energy barriers.16 However, the fabrication process is complex.
Luo et al.11 proposed a novel TaOx-based selector with a trapezoidal band
structure (Figure 3.1e), which was obtained by rapid thermal annealing in O2
plasma. Ta is fully oxidative on the surface of the TaOx layer. As the depth
increases, the component of oxygen and the band gap of the TaOx film decrease.
And eventually, a trapezoidal band structure is achieved. The device shows robust
performance such as high current density (1 MA/cm2), high selectivity (5 × 104),
low off-state current (~10 pA), robust endurance (>1010), self-compliance and
excellent uniformity (Figure 3.1f), suggesting that the tunnel barrier-based
selective device could turn high-density 3D RRAM storage into a reality.

3.1.2 Metal Conductive Filament-Based

Threshold Switching Selector
Selective devices with low leakage currents are essential for suppressing
crosstalk suppression and lowering power consumption.19 Therefore, metal
conductive filament-based threshold switching selectors have made their
presence known because of their ultra-low leakage current and high non-
linearity. Ag is one of the most common active electrode materials for con-
structing threshold switching (TS) selective devices owing to its outstanding
oxygen solubility and diffusivity.20 Song et al.21 proposed an Ag/TiO2-based
threshold selector device with excellent selector characteristics such as high
selectivity (∼107), low leakage current (<10 pA), and steep slope (<5 mV/
decade). Typical threshold switching behaviour is shown in Figure 3.2a. And
the device suddenly switches to the low resistance state (LRS) when the applied
voltage exceeds the threshold switching voltage (Vth). Then the device switches
back to the off state when the applied voltage is smaller than the hold voltage
(Vhold). As shown in Figure 3.2b, the spontaneous rupturing of silver (Ag) fil-
ament is responsible for the volatile threshold switching (TS) behaviour.
The size and shape of the filament are vital to the switching characteristic
of Ag-based filament devices. The thin filament will incur the volatile TS
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 15

FIGURE 3.2 (a) Threshold switching behaviours of Ag/TiO2-based selector

device. (b) The switching mechanism of threshold switching behaviour in Ag/TiO2-
based selector device.

behaviour and the thick filament will incur the non-volatile memory switching
(MS) behaviour. What’s more, the excessive diffusion of Ag ions usually
causes failure of stuck to on-state, which often leads to switching reliability
issues.22 The diffusion of Ag in the film can be controlled by inserting a
graphene barrier or metal barrier.22 In addition, a previous study proposed that
the amount of Ag inside the structure can be reduced by engineering Ag
nanodots.23 And yet the precise control of Ag diffusion is still under study.
Banerjee et al.20 demonstrated a method to control precisely the Ag diffusion
in Ag/HfOx/Pt devices through a vacancy-induced-percolation (VIP) path.
The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image is
shown in Figure 3.3a. The Ag ions can diffuse through the localised path
caused by the nonstoichiometric HfOx film with the pre-existing vacancy
(Figure 3.3c). Highly stable TS behaviour such as low fluctuation (<3%),
low slope (<2 mV/dec), ultra-low off-current (~0.4 pA), high selectivity
(>4 × 1010), and device yield of 100% is achieved in the Ag-filament based
selector (Figure 3.3b). Furthermore, the device can achieve an endurance
of 109 at a selectivity of 108 (Figure 3.3d).
However, the Ag-based selective devices still suffer from the CMOS
incompatibility issue despite their outstanding advantages. In contrast, Cu can
be a better choice as another common active electrode material. Luo et al.19
demonstrated a fully CMOS-friendly Cu-doped HfO2 material-based selector
with low leakage current and high nonlinearity. As shown in Figure 3.4a, a
Cu-doped HfO2 film is used as the threshold switching layer and a thin HfO2
film serves as the tunnelling layer to reduce the leakage current. Compared
with the device with a single TS layer, the device with a tunnelling layer
exhibits more than five orders of magnitude decrease in the leakage current
(Figure 3.4b). The observed threshold switching behaviour is caused by
the spontaneous rupture of conductive filament in doped HfO2 film, which is
the same as that of the Ag-based selective devices. In addition, the selector
device shows robust performance such as high nonlinearity (~107), ultra-low
16 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

FIGURE 3.3 (a) High-resolution transmission electron microscopy image of Ag/

HfOx/Pt device. (b) IV characteristics of the selector shows excellent threshold
switching performance. (c) The switching mechanism in the TS mode. (d) The
selector can achieve an endurance of 109 at a selectivity of 108. © [2021] John
Wiley and Sons. Reprinted, with permission, from [Hyunsang Hwang, Donghwa
Lee, Sangmin Lee, et al., Deep Insight into Steep‐Slope Threshold Switching
with Record Selectivity (>4 × 1010) Controlled by Metal‐Ion Movement through
Vacancy‐Induced‐Percolation Path: Quantum‐Level Control of Hybrid‐Filament,
Advanced Functional Materials, and Jun. 26, 2021].

leakage current (~pA), high endurance (>1010), and sufficient on-state current
density (~1 MA/cm2) (Figure 3.4c, d).

3.1.3 Metal Insulator Transition Selector

The metal-insulator-transition (MIT) behaviour occurring in transition metal
oxides such as niobium oxide (NbOx) and vanadium oxide (VOx) has been
extensively studied. The MIT device will change from an insulating state to a
metallic state after applying certain external stimuli such as temperature,24
optical,25 or electric field.26 Electrically driven MIT devices are well-suited
selectors due to their fast transition speed and bidirectional switching char-
acteristics. The threshold switching characteristic of the MIT selector is like
that of the metal conductive filament-based threshold switching selector. The
device changes from the insulating state to the metallic state when the applied
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 17

FIGURE 3.4 (a) Bilayer device structure by introducing a tunnelling layer on the
TS layer. (b) I-V curves of devices with single TS layer, bilayer, and undoped layer.
(c) I-V characteristic of the bilayer selector device with the optimised tunnelling
layer thickness. (d) Endurance test of the bilayer selector device. © [2015] IEEE.
Reprinted, with permission, from [Qing Luo, Cu BEOL compatible selector with
high selectivity (>107), extremely low off-current (∼pA) and high endurance
(>1010), IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2015].

voltage on the device surpasses the Vth. And it turns back to the insulating
state when the applied voltage on the device is smaller than Vhold.
Vanadium dioxide (VO2) suffers from first-order insulator-metal transition
due to the joule heating after applying an electric field. The VO2 changes from
the insulating state to the metallic state when the temperature rises because
joule-heating surpasses the transition temperature (TC = 340 K = 67 °C). Son
et al.25 proposed a nanoscale VO2 device with high a on/off ratio (>50) and high
current density (>106 A/cm2). The I-V characteristics of the VO2 device are
shown in Figure 3.5a. The inset on the right shows the structure of the nanoscale
Pt/VO2/Pt device. In addition, the nanoscale VO2 devices show a fast response
(<20 ns) to an input voltage signal and stable hysteretic I-V characteristics.
However, the low transition temperature of VO2 hampers its application
because standard operating temperatures exceed 90 °C27 Rupp et al.27 showed
the I-V characteristics of the Pt/VO2/Pt device cycled at different temperatures.
18 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

FIGURE 3.5 (a) The I-V characteristics of the Pt/VO2/Pt device. (b) I-V sweeps of
the Pt/VO2/Pt device at different temperatures. 3.5(a) © [2011] IEEE. Reprinted,
with permission, from [Myungwoo Son, Excellent Selector Characteristics of
Nanoscale VO2 for High-Density Bipolar ReRAM Applications, IEEE Electron Device
Letters, and Nov. 1, 2011]. 3.5(b) © [2016] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from
[J.A.J. Rupp, Threshold Switching in Amorphous Cr-Doped Vanadium Oxide for
New Crossbar Selector, IEEE Proceedings, and May 1, 2016].

As shown in Figure 3.5b, the threshold switching characteristic vanishes at

roughly 60 °C.
NbO2 has a high bulk transition temperature (TC = 1,070 K = 797 °C)
compared with VO2. A nanoscale device with ultrathin NbO2 film fabricated
by the reactive sputtering method has been studied for selective device ap-
plications.28,29 Cha et al.30 demonstrated a NbO2 selector with reduced
leakage current by adopting a 10-nm-thick TiN bottom electrode with
low thermal conductivity. Figure 3.6a shows the 3D device structure of the
W/NbO2/TiN device. The leakage current of the 3D vertical device is
significantly reduced compared with the planar device due to the heat con-
finement effect (Figure 3.6b). NbO2 MIT-based selective devices exhibit
well-behaved hysteretic I-V characteristics like VO2 devices. The temperature
dependence of NbO2 devices before and after threshold switching at different
read voltages is shown in Figure 3.6c. Stable threshold switching character-
istics are still observed at 125 °C, sufficient for reliable memory application.
However, the endurance of the NbO2 selector with 3D vertical architecture is
only 106. And the endurance of the selector should be higher than 109 as the
write endurance of memory type SCM is high (>109). In addition, the leakage
current of the MIT selector is relatively high compared with other selector
candidates such as metal conductive filament-based threshold switching
selector and ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector. Defects exist in MIT
material that generate the conduction subbands between the conduction band
and valance band, which leads to the high leakage current of the MIT selector.
In addition, the interface defects between an electrode and IMT materials can
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 19

FIGURE 3.6 (a) The structure of the W/NbO2/TiN device. (b) The leakage current
is reduced by adopting a 3D structure. (c) Thermal stability test of the NbO2
threshold device before and after threshold switching. (d) The endurance test of
the NbO2 selector. © [2013] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [Euijun Cha,
Nanoscale (∼10 nm) 3D vertical ReRAM and NbO2 threshold selector with TiN
electrode, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2013].

further increase the leakage current because the defects can pin the Schottky
barrier height.31 Inserting a barrier layer between the electrode and IMT film
can eliminate both interfacial and bulk defects.31 Furthermore, the leakage
current can be decreased by adding a barrier layer.
Luo et al.32 proposed an Nb1−xO2-based selector with ultra-high endurance
(>1012), high operation speed (10 ns), bidirectional operation, and excellent Vth
stability. As shown in Figure 3.7a, the TEM image of the selector shows its 3D
structure. The XPS fitting result of the NbOx film is shown in Figure 3.7b. As
shown in Figure 3.7c, the I-V characteristic of the selector shows 60x non-
linearity and a high on-state current density (4.8 MA/cm2). Stable threshold
switching behaviour is observed during the 1012 cycles endurance test
(Figure 3.7d). The off-state leakage current is reduced by one order of mag-
nitude (selectivity as high as 500) by adding a barrier layer between Nb1−xO2
film and electrode (Figure 3.7e). Nevertheless, the NbOx based selector device
still has some drawbacks such as high leakage current and low nonlinearity.
20 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

FIGURE 3.7 (a) TEM image of the selector. (b) Threshold switching characteristic of
the device. (c) The endurance test of NbOx threshold device. (d) The leakage current is
decreased by adding a barrier layer (Al2O3). (e) I‐V curves of devices with single
TS layer and Al2O3/Nb1−xO2 bi‐layer design. Leakage is reduced by barrier layer.

3.1.4 Ovonic Threshold Switch Selector

The ovonic threshold switching (OTS) phenomenon was first reported in thin
films of amorphous chalcogenide alloys by S.R. Ovshinsky.33 So far, nano-
scale OTS device with a T-shaped structure has been widely investigated.34,35
Compared with the various TS type selectors, the most favourable factor of
the OTS selector is that it can satisfy the requirements of most selective
devices thanks to its comprehensively superior performance. The off-state
resistance of the OTS selector is much higher than that of the MIT selector.
And the on-state current of the OTS selector is sufficient to program and erase
the memory element. In addition, ps-level transition speed is achieved in the
OTS selector.36 Previous studies37,38 have demonstrated that OTS selector
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 21

FIGURE 3.8 (a) DC threshold switching characteristic of the GeSe device; The
leakage current is decreased by (b) increasing Se content (c) or doping element N; (d)
DC I‐V curves of the AsSeGeSi device shows ultra-low leakage current; (e) Thermal
stability is verified by XRD; (f) The device is alive even after 2E11 cycles. 3.8(a, b)
© [2018] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [Naga Sruti Avasarala, Half-
threshold bias Ioff reduction down to nA range of thermally and electrically stable
high performance integrated OTS selector, obtained by Se enrichment and N-
doping of thin GeSe layers, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2018]. 3.8(c–f) © [2020]
IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [H.Y. Cheng, Si Incorporation into AsSeGe
Chalcogenides for High Thermal Stability, High Endurance and Extremely Low Vth
Drift 3D Stackable Cross-Point Memory, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2020].

exhibited electronic type transmission with possible secondary thermal ef-

fects, suggesting that it does not involve any atomic arrangements while
switching, which can explain why OTS selector perform so well, such as
ultra-fast switching speed and superb switching endurance. Therefore, the
OTS selector is very suitable for selector device applications.
OTS selectors can be classified into two categories: the Se-based OTS
selector and the Te-based OTS selector. The Se-based OTS selector shows
lower leakage current than the Te-based device.36 Govoreanu et al.35 dem-
onstrated a Se-based OTS selector with a record drive current densities (ex-
ceeding 20 MA/cm2) and high thermal reliability (350 °C). However, only
3,500 half-bias nonlinearity is shown in the device (Figure 3.8a). Avasarala
et al.39 showed that the leakage current at half threshold bias (Ioff1/2) was
decreased to the 1nA range by using Se-enriched or N-doped GeSe
22 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

(Figure 3.8b & c). And the half-bias nonlinearity of the Gex1Se1−x1N device
increases to 105. The thermal stability is critical for the OTS selector as only
amorphous chalcogenides exhibit the volatile threshold switching beha-
viour.40 The introduction of elements such as As, Si, and N can improve
thermal stability.41,42 Cheng et al.34 demonstrated that Si incorporation can
improve thermal stability and endurance while also achieving good Ioff, which
effectively relaxes the trade-off that attempts to improve the thermal stability
of AsSeGe systems and degrade the Ioff and cycling endurance. As shown in
Figure 3.8d, ultra-low Ioff (18 pA@2V) is achieved by incorporating Si into
the AsSeGe system. In addition, the XRD result shows that the AsSeGeSi
selector maintains an amorphous state even up to 550 °C (Figure 3.8e). Pulse
with on current (~300 μA) at 100 ns is used to test the AC switching en-
durance of the AsSeGeSi selector. Threshold switching characteristics are not
degraded after 2E11 cycles (Figure 3.8f).
The Te-based OTS selector has better device stability and smaller
threshold switching voltage (which is critical for low power consumption
operation) compared with the Se-based device.36 Koo et al.43 proposed a
simple binary SiTe OTS device with excellent performance such as high
selectivity (~106) and fast operating speed (2 ns transition after 10 ns delay)
(Figure 3.9b). However, the poor switching endurance characteristic (500k) is
one of the main limitations of such Te-based binary system (Figure 3.9c).
Methods to improve endurance characteristics of the OTS selector have
attracted tremendous interest. Garbin et al.42 demonstrated a quaternary Si-
Ge-As-Te OTS material system, which has been studied since the 1960s.33
The crystallisation temperature increases (TX > 450 °C) by adding Si to the
Ge-As-Te system, which is related to the increase of the optical band gap

FIGURE 3.9 (a) TEM image of the SiTe binary OTS selector device; (b) DC I‐V curves
of the SiTe device shows ultra‐high selectivity; (c) AC switching endurance of the
device. © [2016] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [Yunmo Koo, Te-based
amorphous binary OTS device with excellent selector characteristics for x-point
memory applications, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2016].
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 23

FIGURE 3.10 (a) In situ XRD analysis shows crystallisation temperature for dif-
ferent compositions. (b) Elemental mapping of GeSe OTS device after 1e8 cycles
shows that the elemental segregation is responsible for the failure. (c) Elemental
mapping of SiGeAsTe OTS device after 1e8 cycles shows uniform elemental dis-
tribution. (d) Stable endurance of 1e11 cycles is achieved in SiGeAsTe OTS device.
© [2019] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [D. Garbin, Composition
Optimization and Device Understanding of Si-Ge-As-Te Ovonic Threshold Switch
Selector with Excellent Endurance, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2019].

(Figure 3.10a). Furthermore, the failure mechanism is studied to improve the

endurance characteristic of the OTS system. TEM analysis shows that the
elemental segregation is responsible for the sudden failure of the GeSe device
(Figure 3.10b). And the uniform elemental distribution is shown in the ele-
mental mapping of the SiGeAsTe OTS device after 1e8 cycles, which is
related to the formation of stable bonds (Figure 3.10c). Robust switching
endurance of 1e11 cycles is achieved by incorporating Si into ternary Ge-As-
Te device (Figure 3.10d).
The OTS selector has been a promising candidate for the commerciali-
sation of selector devices due to its satisfactory characteristics. Elemental
doping has been widely used in OTS selectors to enhance the device per-
formance such as thermal reliability and cycling endurance. However, com-
plex material compositions (four to five elements) caused by doping will
induce compositional inhomogeneities.40 Even worse, the reduced dimen-
sions will degrade the thermal stability caused by interfacial hetero-
crystallisation.44,45 Therefore, the complex compositions caused by elemental
doping hinder its application in selective devices.
24 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

3.2 SELF-SELECTIVE DEVICES

Nonlinear selector devices are commonly used in memories based on the
three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (X-point) structure. Memory with the 3D
X-point structure has been obtained by stacking the 2D cross-point for several
layers. The number of lithography steps is 2N + 1 assuming the number of
stacked layers is N. Therefore, the lithography steps increase drastically as
stacked layers rise, because the active area dimensions are completely defined
by lithography in the 3D X-point based memory, causing high cost of the 3D
X-point structure. In contrast, 3D vertical resistive random access memory
(3D VRRAM) shows better characteristics. The dimension of the top elec-
trode is determined by lithography. And the dimension of the bottom elec-
trode can be accurately controlled to the atomic level because it is defined by
the thickness of the deposited film. As a result, the uniformity of the device
can be improved thanks to the precise fabrication process. In addition, the
number of critical lithography steps does not increase as the number of
stacked layers increases, suggesting lower cost and higher density.
The memory cells are one time deposited on the side wall of the deep
holes in a 3D VRRAM architecture. As shown in Figure 3.11a, an interme-
diate electrode exists between the selective layer and the bit line (BL), which
causes a short circuit in the memory cell on the same BL by connecting the
same selector. Therefore, the 1S1R structure is not suitable to 3D VRRAM.
Instead, the self-selective memory cell with rectifying or built-in nonlinearity
characteristic (the current change nonlinearly with the voltage at LRS) is the
only choice for constructing a 3D VRRAM. The construction of the self-
selective memory cell is shown in Figure 3.11b, which commonly is com-
prised of a selective layer and a memory layer.

FIGURE 3.11 (a) The memory cells on the same BL will be shorted due to the
introduction of an intermediate electrode. (b) The self-selective memory cell
consists of a selective layer and a memory layer.
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 25

3.2.1 Self-Rectifying RRAM

The self-rectifying device can be used to inhibit crosstalk in a crossbar
memory without extra rectifying diodes as the I-V characteristic curve of the
self-rectifying device is like that of the 1D1R. Previous studies have reported
that the memory with self-rectifying effect by using Al/PCMO/TiN struc-
ture46 or HfOx/ZrOx-based RRAM with a back-to-back connection tech-
nique.47 However, these memories have downsides such as low rectifying
behaviour, high read-out voltage, and complex device structure. The forma-
tion of a Schottky barrier neither at the conjunction of filament and buffer
layer nor at the interface of electrode and switching layer helps to obtain the
self-rectifying resistive memory. Tran et al.48 proposed a forming-free and
self-rectifying unipolar resistive memory based on n+-Si/HfOx/Ni structure.
The memory exhibit excellent self-rectifying behaviour in LRS (>103 @ 1 V)
and a wide read-out margin for high-density cross-point memory devices. As
shown in Figure 3.12a, the typical I-V curve of the DC sweep of n+-Si/HfOx/
Ni shows rectification properties in LRS, which can restrain the crosstalk
effect without connecting a diode. And the typical I-V characteristic curves of
n+Si/HfOx/Ni cell in LRS under different working temperatures exhibit ex-
cellent self-rectifying characteristics (Rectifying ratio @ 1V is >103 at 50 °C)
(Figure 3.12b). A model is proposed to clarify the self-rectifying effect in
LRS for Ni/HfOx/n+-Si device. As shown in Figure 3.12c, defects or traps can
be introduced into HfOx/SiOx dielectrics during the memory programming,
whose energy level might align with the mid-gap of the Si substrate. Electrons
can be injected from the defect states in HfOx/SiOx dielectrics into the Si
electrode during reverse bias operation. However, the current would be
suppressed due to the Schottky barrier at the n+-Si and HfOx/SiOx junction,

FIGURE 3.12 (a) I-V characteristic curves of n+ Si/HfOx/Ni cell shows rectification
properties in LRS. (b) I-V curves of n+ Si/HfOx/Ni cell at different working tem-
perature shows excellent self-rectifying behaviour in LRS (>103 @ 1 V). (c) The
schematic of reverse current transport in n+-Si/HfOx/Ni (top) and p+-Si/HfOx/Ni
(bottom) devices. © [2011] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [X.A. Tran, Self-
rectifying and forming-free unipolar HfOx based-high performance RRAM built by
fab‐avaialbe materials, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2011].
26 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

which results in the self-rectifying effect. And such a barrier is not formed in
the p+-Si electrode-based device. But Si-based self-rectifying devices have
inherent drawbacks such as high processing temperature, making them
incapable of being stacked layer by layer in the BEOL process. Yet inserting a
semiconducting buffer layer between the metal electrode and the switching
layer can make a stackable self-rectifying device.49 Lower processing tem-
perature and stackable capability are obtained by introducing the semi-
conducting material (a-Si). Nevertheless, owing to the high-density defects
that exist at the interface between the metal electrode and the oxide layer, the
rectifying ratio of the device is decreased to less than 102.
Some studies50,51 report that bilayer structured devices composed of two
kinds of CMOS-compatible material show outstanding self-rectifying char-
acteristics. One-layer acts as a forming-free resistive switching (RS) layer and
the other layer acts as a rectifier layer with the help of a highly functional
metal. As a well-known high-dielectric material, HfO2 is attractive in the
ReRAM field considering its controllability of resistance values on an atomic
scale.52,53 Ta2O5’s robust cycling endurance makes it a key role in the
ReRAM field.54 HfO2 and Ta2O5 could have inherently superb uniformity,
lacking discrete metallic second phases.55 However, there has been no study
on the self-rectifying properties of these two materials. Yoon et al.55 proposed
a self-rectifying resistance switching memory with the Pt/Ta2O5/HfO2/TiN
structure. The HfO2 layer acts as the resistance switching layer by trapping or
de-trapping of electronic carriers, while the Ta2O5 layer remains intact during
the whole switching cycle and establishes a high Schottky barrier with a high-
work-function metal (Pt). As shown in Figure 3.13a, the self-rectifying
memory exhibits outstanding characteristics such as being highly uniform and
electroforming-free, which is related to the increment of the initial defect (Vo)
content in the atomic-layer-deposited HfO2 layer. In addition, the resistance
ratio (~1,000) is high enough for the high-density CBA (Mb block density),
but the rectification ratio (104) should be improved.56 The rectification ratio
can be improved by replacing the bottom electrode with Ti, which is related to
the better quasi-Ohmic contact between the dielectric stack and Ti.57 As
shown in Figure 3.13b, this device with a Ti electrode shows a higher rec-
tifying ratio (106). Many reported self-rectifying devices to have a thick
rectifier layer, bringing about a poor scaling capability in a 3D vertical
structure and large operation voltages, which hinders its application in em-
bedded memory.55,57–59 Low operation voltage (<3 V) and good compati-
bility with the CMOS logic devices are achieved by introducing a thin HfO2
layer (3 nm) between the Pd and a conductive WOx layer. The high rectifying
ratio (>100) caused by Pd/HfO2 Schottky contact is helpful to suppress the
sneaking current (Figure 3.13c). In addition, the device also shows high
uniformity and fast operation speed.
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 27

FIGURE 3.13 (a) Resistive switching I-V curves of the device with the Pt/Ta2O5/
HfO2/TiN structure. (b) Resistive switching I-V curves of the device with Ti elec-
trode. (c) Typical IV curves of self-rectifying memory with Pd/HfO2/WOx/W struc-
ture. 3.13(a) © [2014] John Wiley and Sons. Reprinted, with permission, from
[Cheol Seong Hwang, Tae Hyung Park, Dae Eun Kwon, et al., Highly Uniform,
Electroforming‐Free, and Self‐Rectifying Resistive Memory in the Pt/Ta2O5/HfO2‐x/
TiN Structure, Advanced Functional Materials, and May 26, 2014]. 3.13(b) ©
[2015] John Wiley and Sons. Reprinted, with permission, from [Cheol Seong
Hwang, Xinglong Shao, Young Jae Kwon, et al., Pt/Ta2O5/HfO2−x/Ti Resistive
Switching Memory Competing with Multilevel NAND Flash, Advanced Materials,
and May 13, 2015]. 3.13(c) © [2018] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [X.A.
Tran, Self-Rectifying and Forming-Free Resistive-Switching Device for Embedded
Memory Application, IEEE Electron Device Letters, and May 1, 2018].

The self-rectifying RRAM devices fabricated in 3D vertical structures are

critical. Yoon et al.58 reported a Pt/Ta2O5/HfO2/TiN-based RRAM with a thin
switching layer (<20 nm) in a 3D vertical structure (Figure 3.14a). The cross-
sectional TEM image showing the overall structure of the deposited HfO2
layer on the etched BE and SiO2 layers. The typical self-rectifying

FIGURE 3.14 (a) Cross-sectional TEM image showing the devices fabricated on
3D vertical structure. (b) Resistive switching I-V curves of the vertical Pt/Ta2O5/
HfO2/TiN cell.
28 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

characteristic is shown in Figure 3.14b. Inset shows the on/off resistance ratio
and the forward/reverse rectification ratio as a function of the read voltage.
Low current switching (below 10 nA) and high rectifying ratios (103) are
achieved.

3.2.2 Built-in nonlinearity RRAM

The self-selective cells (SSC) with built-in nonlinearity consist of a selection
layer and a memory layer. The selection layer is utilised to offer high non-
linearity and the memory layer is used for storage. And the selection layer
used in SSC can be divided into two types in light of different electronic
transmission mechanisms: threshold type and exponential type.

3.2.2.1 SSC with Threshold Type Selection Layer

Various threshold switching selectors available can be used for constructing
SSC, such as insulator-metal transition (IMT) selectors60,61 and mixed ionic
and electron conductor (MIEC)-based selectors.62 High nonlinearity is offered
by the threshold type selection layer in SSC thanks to an abrupt threshold
switching I-V characteristic with a hysteresis. The self-selective cells based
on insulator-metal transition (IMT) selectors have been investigated. Kim
et al.28 firstly proposed an ultrathin (~10 nm) W/NbOx/Pt device with both
threshold switching (TS) and memory switching (MS) characteristics.
Ultrathin Nb2O5/NbO2 stacking with both TS and MS is formed by oxidising
NbO2. A significant reduction of leakage current of the unselected cell (±1/
2Vread region) emerges in the self-selective cell, compared with RRAM
without selector. As shown in Figure 3.15a, excellent characteristics such as
high on current (>2 MA/cm2) and good switching uniformity are also shown
in the self-selective cell. In addition, the disturbance of unselect device under
read mode (@±1/2Vread) is negligible (Figure 3.14b). Furthermore, the
readout margin was improved by suppressing the LRS current at 1/2Vread of
unselected cell in hybrid memory (Figure 3.14c). However, the IMT-based
self-selective cells can be limited due to its high leakage current and low
nonlinearity.
The MIEC-based selector embodies high nonlinearity and low-leakage
current at off-state compared with the IMT-based selector. And the HfO2 is a
laudable material with salient memory switching characteristics. Luo et al.63
configured a bilayer SSC device by combining these two promising materials.
Outstanding self-selective characteristics are demonstrated within a four-layer
VRRAM array, including ultra-low half-select leakage (<0.1 pA), very high
nonlinearity (>103), low operation current (nA level), self-compliance, high
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 29

FIGURE 3.15 (a) I-V characteristics of the IMT-based self-selective cell. (b)
Disturbance test of unselect device under read mode (1/2Vread) and set/reset mode
(1/2VSET/RESET). (c) Calculated readout margin of the IMT based self-selective cell
and only 1 RRAM device under the worst case. © [2012] IEEE. Reprinted, with
permission, from [Seonghyun Kim, Ultrathin (<10 nm) Nb2O5/NbO2 hybrid
memory with both memory and selector characteristics for high density 3D ver-
tically stackable RRAM applications, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2012].

endurance (>107), and robust read/write disturbance immunity. The schematic of

the four-layer 3D VRRAM array is shown in Figure 3.16a. Typical I-V curve of
bilayer SSC shows outstanding characteristics of high selectivity, low operation
current, self-compliance, and low leakage current (Figure 3.16b). Inset shows
that the programming voltage (VP) and selective voltage (Vs) are strongly
dependent on the thickness of CuGeS. In addition, a sufficient read margin can be
maintained in an array of up to 10 Mb in the worst-case condition (Figure 3.16c).
Owning to the movement of ions or local phase change in the selection
layer, all the self-selective cells with threshold type selection layer demon-
strate a large variation of the turn-on voltage, indicating a limited read voltage
window of the 3D VRRAM array.12,63 Therefore, the uniformity of SSC is
critical and needs to be improved.

FIGURE 3.16 (a) The schematic of four-layer 3D VRRAM array. (b) Typical I-V
curve of bilayer SSC. (c) Read margin analysis in the worst-case condition. ©
[2015] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [Qing Luo, Demonstration of 3D
vertical RRAM with ultra low-leakage, high-selectivity and self-compliance
memory cells, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2015].
30 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

3.2.2.2 SSC with Exponential Type Selection Layer

Exponential type selection layers boast higher uniformity due to pure electron
conduction and no ion movement or structure modification occurring during
operation. Chen et al.51 reported a double-layer stacked HfOx vertical RRAM,
which is made up of an exponential type selection layer and a filament type
memory layer. The nonlinear I-V characteristic is achieved by engineering
electrode/oxide interface using TiON layer (Figure 3.17a). The fabricated
vertical RRAM excels in reset current (<50 μA), switching speed (~50 ns),
switching endurance (>108 cycles), half-selected read disturbance immunity
(>109 cycles) and retention (>105 s @125 °C). A typical I-V curve is shown

FIGURE 3.17 (a) Cross-sectional TEM image of single-layer sample. (b) Typical DC
I-V switching characteristics of bilayer SSC. (c) The schematic of the Ti/HfO2/TiOx/Pt
device. (d) Typical I-V curves of the Ti/HfO2/TiOx/Pt device. 3.17(a, b) © [2012] IEEE.
Reprinted, with permission, from [Hong-Yu Chen, HfOx based vertical resistive
random access memory for cost-effective 3D cross-point architecture without cell
selector, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2012]. 3.17(c, d) © [2013] IEEE. Reprinted,
with permission, from [Sangheon Lee, Selector-less ReRAM with an excellent non-
linearity and reliability by the band-gap engineered multi-layer titanium oxide and
triangular shaped AC pulse, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2013].
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 31

in Figure 3.17b. The formation of an interfacial TiON layer may cause a

tunnelling barrier and a large Ron for memory. However, the nonlinearity in
these devices is low (~5). The nonlinearity can be improved by engineering
the band gap of the TiOy/TiOx multi-layer.50 Lee et al.50 proposed that the
nonlinearity and readout margin have been significantly improved by opti-
mising the oxygen profile of the TiOx layer in the RRAM. The schematic of
the Ti/HfO2/TiOx/Pt device is shown in Figure 3.17c. The typical I-V curves
of the Ti/HfO2/TiOx/Pt device reported in this work are vastly nonlinear (~23)
(Figure 3.17d). The excellent AC endurance (~108 cycles) and switching
uniformity also achieved in this device.
However, the SSC with exponential type selection layer mentioned above
is also inherently a filament type resistive switching memory, which will
cause a large variety of set voltage. Therefore, an SSC with an exponential type
selection layer and a non-filament type memory layer is a better choice.
Govoreanu et al.64 put forward an SSC based on TiN/Al2O3/TiO2/TiN struc-
ture, where the Al2O3 layer plays as an exponential type selection layer and the
TiO2 layer acts as a non-filament type memory layer. The cross-sectional TEM
image is shown in Figure 3.18a. The TiO2 layer is reduced by using a post-TiO2
deposition anneal at 600 °C, which induces an oxygen vacancy (Vo) profile
across the whole film and creates a vacancy modulated conductive oxide
(VMCO) active layer. As shown in Figure 3.18b, the VMCO device works so
well such as low operation current (1 μA), large on/off window of >102, and
100x nonlinearity. The switching mechanism is exhibited in Figure 3.18c, the
vacancies are moved back and forth by applying an external bias. The off/initial
state resistance originates from the whole tunnelling barrier layer and part of the
Vo-depleted VMCO layer, while the on-state resistance is mainly related to the
conduction through the tunnelling barrier layer.

FIGURE 3.18 (a) The cross-sectional TEM image of the VMCO device. (b) Typical
DC I-V switching characteristics of the VMCO device. (c) The schematics of the
switching model. © [2013] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [B. Govoreanu,
Vacancy-modulated conductive oxide resistive RAM (VMCO-RRAM): An area-
scalable switching current, self-compliant, highly nonlinear and wide on/off-
window resistive switching cell, IEEE Proceedings, and Dec. 1, 2013].
32 3D Integration of Resistive Switching Memory

Ma et al.65 proposed that the non-filament RRAM can be more uniform

as its switching is through the uniform defect profile modulation. Govoreanu
et al.66,67 found an a-VMCO nonfilamentary resistive switching memory cell
with self-rectifying, self-compliant, forming-free, and analog behaviour. The
a-VMCO device is fabricated by using amorphous-Si (a-Si) with larger
thickness (8 nm) as a barrier and TiO2 as a switching layer. The devices are
forming-free and initially in the on-state (Figure 3.19a). The VMCO device
(Figure 3.19b) has excellent device-to-device uniformity. The barrier resis-
tance modulation helps realise wider on/off window and current reduction
while preserving an excellent variability. As shown in Figure 3.19c, the Inner-
interface engineered device shows an on/off window above 100 and reset
switching currents of down to ~1 μA for 40-nm-size cells, scaling with size,
without compromising reliability. However, the nonlinearity and leakage
current of the SSC device still need to be improved.
Xu et al.68 suggested an SSC fabricated on a four-layer vertical structure
with a self-alignment technique (Figure 3.20a). The selection layer of this
device was TiOx, which is formed by an oxygen plasma treatment of TiN. The
device shows high nonlinearity (>103), low leakage current (~0.1 pA), robust
endurance, and excellent disturbance immunity. Many reported SSCs28,50,51,69
are fabricated by directly depositing films into a trench and form a sidewall
contact with the stacked word lines (WLs), which may create sneak leakage
current path in the selective layer (SL) between adjacent WLs. The inter-layer
leakage is successfully eliminated by using a self-alignment technique, ex-
tending the scaling limit of VRRAM beyond 5 nm. Typical I-V curves ex-
hibited the hysteresis characteristics (Figure 3.20b). Besides, the nonlinearity

FIGURE 3.19 (a) DC IV sweeps of the a-VMCO device. (b) DC reset character-
istics (left) and excellent read-out d2d uniformity (right). (c) DC IV sweeps of the
engineered IL a-VMCO device (red) compared with the a-VMCO device (black).
3.19(a)(b) © [2016] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from [B. Govoreanu,
Advanced a-VMCO resistive switching memory through inner interface en-
gineering with wide (>102) on/off window, tunable μA-range switching current
and excellent variability, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2016].
 3 • Selector Devices and Self-Selective Cells 33

FIGURE 3.20 (a) Magnified TEM image of the TiN/TiOx/HfO TiOx/Ru SSC device.
(b) Typical I-V switching characteristics of the TiN/TiOx/HfO2/Ru device. (c) Calculated
readout margin upon array size. © [2016] IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from
[Xiaoxin Xu, Fully CMOS compatible 3D vertical RRAM with self-aligned self-
selective cell enabling sub 5nm scaling, IEEE Proceedings, and Jun. 1, 2016].

at the low resistance state (LRS) exceeds 103, which can get rid of the sneak
leakage current in large-scale crossbar arrays. In addition, the calculated
readout margin upon array size shows that sufficient read margin can be
realised in an array up to 10 Mb (Figure 3.20c). However, there are still many
challenges limiting the application of 3D VRRAM even if these SSCs
mentioned above perform satisfactorily.

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will feel a grasp as strong as when it flashed in the glare of your
burning dwellings or was lifted terribly over the fallen in battle."
The order is given to fire upon him; and he replies, "Do so. I am
weary of the world; for ye are dwellers in it. I would not turn on my
heel to save my life." They shoot, and he staggers, but in his dying
agonies launches on them his awful malediction:
"My curses on ye, white men! May the Great Spirit curse ye when he
speaks in his war-voice from the clouds! May his words be like the
forked lightnings, to blast and desolate! May the loud winds and the
fierce red flames be loosed in vengeance upon ye, tigers! May the
angry Spirit of the Waters in his wrath sweep over your dwellings!
May your graves and the graves of your children be in the path
where the red man shall tread, and may the wolf and the panther
howl over your fleshless bones! I go. My fathers beckon from the
green lakes and the broad hills. The Great Spirit calls me. I go,—but
the curses of Metamora stay with the white men!"
He crawls painfully to the bodies of his wife and child, and, in a vain
effort to kiss them, expires, with his last gasp mixing the words, "I
die—my wife, my queen—my Nahmeokee!"
SPARTACUS.
 F. Halpin

EDWIN FORREST AS

THE GLADIATOR.
"The Gladiator," written by Robert Montgomery Bird, was another
prize-play, in which Forrest acquired a popularity which, if less
general, was more intense, than that secured for his Metamora. If
the admiration and applause given to it were drawn less universally
from men and women, from old and young, they were more fervent
and sustained, being fed by those elementary instincts which are
strongest in the robust multitude. The Spartacus of Forrest was
more abused and satirized by hostile critics than any of his other
parts, because it was the most "physical" and "melodramatic" of
them all. Muscular exertion and ferocious passion were carried to
their greatest pitch in it, though neither of these was displayed in a
degree beyond sincerity and fitness or the demands of the given
situations on the given embodiment of the character. There are
actual types of men and actual scenes of life which are
transcendently "physical" and "melodramatic." No actor can truly
represent such specimens of human nature and such conjunctures of
human history without being highly "physical" and profoundly
"melodramatic." Is it not the office of the player, the very aim of his
art, correctly to depict the truth of man and life? And, recollecting
what sort of a person the veritable Thracian gladiator was, and what
sort of a part he played, one may well ask how he can be justly
impersonated on the stage if not invested with the attributes of
brawny muscularity, terrific indignation, stentorian speech, and
merciless revenge. Forrest was blamed and ridiculed by a coterie
because he did exactly what, as an artist cast in such a rôle, he
ought to do, and any deviation from which would have been a gross
violation of propriety. He simply exhibited tremendous mental and
physical realities with tremendous mental and physical realism. What
else would the demurrer have?
The fact is, the cant words "physical" and "melodramatic," as
demeaningly used in dramatic criticism, express a vulgar prejudice
too prevalent among the educated and refined,—a prejudice
infinitely more harmful than any related prejudice of the ignorant
and coarse. They seem to fancy the body something vile, to be
ashamed of, to receive as little attention and be kept as much out of
sight as possible. But since God created the body as truly as he did
the spirit, and decreed its uses as much as he did those of the spirit,
the perfecting and glorifying of the former are just as legitimate as
the perfecting and glorifying of the latter. The ecclesiastical
interpretation of Christianity for these fifteen hundred years is
responsible, in common with kindred ascetic superstitions of other
and elder religions, for an incalculable amount of disease, deformity,
vice, crime, and untimely death. The contempt for bodily power and
its material conditions in a superbly-developed and trained physical
organism, the foul and dishonoring notion of the superior sanctity of
the celibate state, the teaching that chastity is the one thing that
allies us to the angels, with which every other sin may be forgiven,
without which no other virtue is to be recognized,—these and
associated errors—discords, distortions, and inversions of nature—
have been prolific sources of evil. They lie at the root of the so
common prejudice against a magnificent and glowing condition of
the physical organism, a prejudice which feeds the conceit of the
votaries of the present mental forcing system, and causes so many
dawdling idlers to neglect all use of those vigorous measures of
gymnastic hygiene which would raise the power and splendor of
body and soul together to their maximum.
The type of man produced by the Athenians in their best age, its
unrivalled combination of health and strength, energy and grace,
acumen and sensibility, organic harmony of mental peace and vital
joy, was very largely the fruit of their unrivalled system of
gymnastics regulated by music. Free America, with this example and
so much subsequent experience, with all the conquests of modern
science at her command, should inaugurate a system of popular
training which will acknowledge the equal sanctity of body and soul
and render them worthy of each other, a union of athletic and
æsthetic culture making the body the temporary illuminated temple
of its indwelling immortal divinity.
The separating of human nature into opposed parts whose
respective highest welfare is incompatible must ever be productive
of all kinds of morbidity, monstrosity, and horror, through the final
reactions of the violated harmony of truth. Leading to the enforced
culture of one side, the mental, and the enforced neglect of the
other, the material, it is fatal to that rounded wholeness of the entire
man which is the synonym of both health and virtue. For the
helpless subsidence of the soul in the body is brutality or idiocy; the
insurrectionary sway of the body over the soul is insanity; the
remorseless subdual of the body by the soul is egotistic asceticism or
murderous ferocity; but the parallel development and exaltation of
accordant body and soul give us the ideal of health and happiness
fulfilled in beauty, or the enthronement of divine order in man.
Therefore such a stimulating instance of organic glory, extraordinary
outward poise and inward passion, as the people, thrilled in their
most instinctive depths of enthusiasm, used to shout at when they
saw Forrest in his early assumptions of the rôle of Spartacus, is not
to be stigmatized as something offensive, but to be hailed as
something admirable.
In those happy and glowing years of his prime and of his fresh
celebrity, what a glorious image of unperverted manhood, of
personified health and strength and beauty, he presented! What a
grand form he had! What a grand face! What a grand voice! And,
the living base of all, what a grand blood! the rich flowing seed-bed
of his human thunder and lightning. As he stepped upon the stage in
his naked fighting-trim, his muscular coating unified all over him and
quivering with vital power, his skin polished by exercise and friction
to a smooth and marble hardness, conscious of his enormous
potency, fearless of anything on the earth, proudly aware of the
impression he knew his mere appearance, backed by his fame,
would make on the audience who impatiently awaited him,—he used
to stand and receive the long, tumultuous cheering that greeted
him, as immovable as a planted statue of Hercules. In the rank and
state of his physical organism and its feelings he had the superiority
of a god over common men. The spectacle, let it be repeated, was
worthy the admiration it won. And had the personal imitation of the
care and training he gave himself been but equal to the admiration
lavished on their result, the benefit to the American people would
have been beyond estimate. But in this, as in the other lessons of
the drama, the example was relatively fruitless, because shown to
spectators who applaud without copying, seeking entertainment
instead of instruction. This, however, is clearly the fault of the
people, and not of the stage.
The play of "The Gladiator" is founded on that dark and frightful
episode in the history of Rome, the famous servile war headed by
the gladiators under the lead of Spartacus. Our sympathies are
skilfully enlisted on the side of the insurgents, who are goaded to
their desperate enterprise by insufferable wrongs and cruelties. It
abounds in pictures of insolent tyranny on one side, and with
eloquent denunciation and fearless resistance on the other, and the
chief character is a powerful presentation of a deep and generous
manhood, outraged in every fibre, lashed to fury by his injuries, and,
after superhuman efforts of revenge, expiring in monumental
despair and appeal to the gods. The horrors of oppression, the
irrepressible dignity of human nature, the reckless luxury of the
rulers, the suffering of the slaves, the revolting arrogance of
despotism, and the burning passion of liberty, are set against one
another; and all through it the mighty figure of Spartacus is made to
fill the central place. It was just the part for a democrat, who,
despising what is factitious, gloried in the ineradicable attributes of
free manhood; and Forrest made the most of it. For instance, it is
easy for those who knew him to imagine the energy and relish with
which he would utter the following lines when he came to them in
his part:

"I thank the gods, I am barbarian;

For I can better teach the grace-begot
And heaven-supported masters of the earth,
How a mere dweller of a desert rock
Can bow their crowned heads to his chariot-wheels.
Man is heaven's work, and beggars' brats may herit
A soul to mount them up the steeps of fortune,
With regal necks to be their stepping-blocks."
In the intense sincerity and elaborate as well as spontaneous truth
of his performance, it was not a play that the spectators saw, but a
history; not a history, but a resurrection. Entering in the garb of a
slave, bound and whipped, his mighty frame and terrible aspect
made the abuse seem more awful. Tortured with insulting questions,
his proud spirit stung by wrong on wrong, he broke forth in
desperation, and carried the passions of the audience by storm, as
with clenched hands, and half erect from their seats, while the blood
ran quicker through their veins, they saw him rush into combat with
his enemies and chase them from the stage. They delighted to see
the cruel subduer of the world humbled by her own captive, who
held her haughty prætors by the heart and called on Thrace, on
Africa, on the oppressed of all nations, to pour the flood of their
united hates on the detested city. They rejoiced to hear him recite
with bitter eloquence the story of her degradation, and heap on her
with hot scorn the recollection of the time when Tiber ran blood and
Hannibal hung over her like a cloud charged with ruin. Every step,
every word, vibrated on their feelings, and when he fell their hearts
swelled with a pang. For the actor had been lost in the slave, the
insurgent, the conqueror, the victim.
His first appearance as a captive in imperial Rome was deeply
affecting. "Is it a thousand leagues to Thrace?" he said, with a
whispered agony, the deadly lament of hopeless exile. He has been
purchased by Lentulus, an exhibitor of gladiators, on the strength of
the report that he was the most desperate, skilful, and
unconquerable fighter in the province. Bracchius, another proprietor
of gladiators, owns one Phasarius, a Thracian, who has always been
victorious in his combats. Phasarius was a younger and favorite
brother of Spartacus, supposed to have been killed in battle years
before, but really taken captive and brought to Rome. Now Bracchius
and Lentulus propose a combat between their two slaves. Spartacus,
chained, is ordered in. He asks, "Is not this Rome, the great city?"
Bracchius replies, "Ay, and thou shouldst thank the gods that they
have suffered thee to see it. What think'st thou of it?"
"Spartacus. That if the Romans had not been fiends, Rome had
never been great. Whence came this greatness but from the
miseries of subjugated nations? How many myriads of happy people
that had not wronged Rome, for they knew not Rome,—how many
myriads of these were slain, like the beasts of the field, that Rome
might fatten upon their blood, and become great? Look ye, Roman,
there is not a palace upon these hills that cost not the lives of a
thousand innocent men; there is no deed of greatness ye can boast,
but it was achieved by the ruin of a nation; there is no joy ye can
feel, but its ingredients are blood and tears."
Lentulus breaks in, "Now, marry, villain, thou wert bought not to
prate, but to fight."
"Spartacus. I will not fight. I will contend with mine enemy, when
there is strife between us; and if that enemy be one of these same
fiends, a Roman, I will give him the advantage of weapon and place;
he shall take a helmet and buckler, while I, with my head bare and
my breast naked, and nothing in my hand but my shepherd's staff,
will beat him to my feet and slay him. But I will not slay a man for
the diversion of Romans."
His master threatens to have him lashed if he refuses to contend in
the arena. The fearful attitude and fixed look with which Spartacus
received this threat, suggesting that he would strike the speaker
dead with a glance, were a masterpiece of expressive art not easily
forgotten by any one who saw it. Its possessing power seemed to
freeze the gazer while he gazed. Still refusing to fight, in moody
despair he bewails the destruction of his home by the Romans, and
their murder of his wife and young child. The female slaves of
Bracchius here pass by, and, to his amazement, among them
Spartacus sees his lost Senona and her boy. After a touching
interview of contending joy and grief with them, he agrees to enter
the arena, on condition that if he is victorious his reward shall be
their liberation.
The next act opens with a view of the great Roman amphitheatre,
crowded with the people gathered to see those bloody games which
were their horrid but favorite amusement. The first adversary
brought against Spartacus is a Gaul. He soon slays him, though with
great reluctance, and only as moved to it by the prospect of freedom
for his wife and child. Then they propose as a second champion a
renowned Thracian. He flings down his sword and refuses to fight
with one of his own countrymen. But at last, on learning that liberty
is to be had in no other way, he suddenly yields. The Thracian is
introduced. It is Phasarius. A scene of intense pathetic power
follows, as little by little the brothers are struck with each other's
appearance, suspect, inquire, respond, are satisfied, and rush into a
loving embrace. The prætor treats their recognition and their
transport of fraternal affection as a trick to escape the combat, and
orders them to begin. Spartacus proposes to his brother to die sword
in hand rather than obey the unnatural command. In reply,
Phasarius rapidly informs him that he has already organized the
elements of a revolt among his comrades, and that it awaits but his
signal to break out. Crassus angrily calls on his guards to enter the
amphitheatre and punish the dilatory combatants. The manner in
which Spartacus retorted, "Let them come in,—we are armed!"
never failed to stir the deepest excitement in the theatre, causing
the whole assembly to join in enthusiastic applause. Port, look,
gesture, tone, accent, combined to make it a signal example of the
sovereign potency of manner in revealing a master-spirit and
swaying subject-spirits.
On the entrance of the guards, Phasarius gives a shout, and the
confederate gladiators also plunge in, and a general conflict begins.
In this scene the acting of Forrest absorbed his whole heart. He was
so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of it that everything he did was
perfectly natural, full of that genuine fire which is so much beyond
all exertion by rule. It was universally agreed that more spirited and
admirable fighting was hardly to be conceived, the varied postures
into which he threw his massive form being worthy to be taken as
studies for the sculptor.
The rebellion grows apace in success and numbers. Spartacus
rescues his wife and child from the Roman camp, and seizes the
niece of the prætor. Phasarius falls in love with this young woman,
and demands her of his brother. Being refused because she is
affianced to a youth in Rome, he insists on his demand. In the
altercation occurs one of the finest and loftiest passages in the play,
and it was rendered with a sublime eloquence:

"Spartacus. Come, look me in the face,

And let me see how bad desires have changed thee.
Phasarius. I claim the captive.
Spar. Set thine eye on her:
Lo, you! she weeps, and she is fatherless.
Thou couldst not harm an orphan? What, I say,
Art thou, whom I have carried in my arms
To mountain-tops to worship the great God,
Art thou a man to plot a wrong and sorrow
'Gainst such as have no father left but Him?"

Phasarius revolts, and takes off more than half the army.
Disastrously defeated by Crassus, he returns with a broken fragment
of his forces, and is generously forgiven and restored to favor by
Spartacus, who intrusts him with an important separate command,
and confides Senona and her boy to his keeping, with the solemn
charge that he shall avoid all collision with the enemy. Phasarius,
however, thirsting for Roman blood, seeks an engagement, and is
totally routed, his force cut in pieces, and the mother and child both
slain. The unhappy man, then, mortally wounded, presents himself
before his brother, tells his fearful tale, and expires at his feet. In
this interview the emotions of anxiety, deprecation, grief, wrath, and
horror, were depicted in all their most forcible language in the
person of Spartacus. One action in particular was effective in the
highest degree. Phasarius described the crucifixion by the Romans of
six thousand of their Thracian captives. The highway on both sides,
he said, was lined with crosses, and on each cross was nailed a
gladiator.
 "I crept
Thro' the trenched army to that road, and saw
The executed multitude uplifted
Upon the horrid engines. Many lived:
Some moaned and writhed in stupid agony;
Some howled and prayed for death, and cursed the gods;
Some turned to lunatics, and laughed at horror;
And some with fierce and hellish strength had torn
Their arms free from the beams, and so had died
Grasping headlong the air."

The agitations of the soul of the listener up to this point had been
delineated with fearful distinctness. But when told that his wife and
child had been killed, his head suddenly fell forward on his breast
and rested there, after vibrating four or five times in lessening
degrees on the pivot of the neck, as if utterly abandoned to itself. It
was marvellously expressive of the exhausted state, the woe-begone
despair, of one who had received a shock too great to be borne, a
shock which, had it been a little severer, would have prostrated his
whole figure, but, as it was, simply prostrated his head.
Deprived of all his kindred and of all hope, alone on the flinty earth,
rage and recklessness now seize the desolate Thracian, and he
resolves to sacrifice his captive, the niece of the prætor, in retaliation
for the slaughter of his own family; but a nobler sentiment restrains
him, and he dismisses her to her father. In this passage he displayed
the agony of generous grief subduing the desire of vengeance with a
power which, as a prominent English critic said, reminded the
beholder of the head of Laocoön struggling in the folds of the
serpent, or of the head of Hercules writhing under the torture of the
poisoned shirt.
The prætor in return for his daughter sends Spartacus an offer of
pardon if he will surrender. Disdainfully rejecting the overture, he
has the horses in his camp slain, and sets everything on the chance
of one more battle, but against such odds as he knows can result
only in his defeat. With a frenzied thirst for vengeance he fights his
way to the presence of the Roman general, and, in the very act of
striking him down, exhausted from the accumulated wounds
received in his passage of blood, grows faint, reels, falls in the exact
attitude of the immortal statue of the Dying Gladiator, and expires.
A most remarkable proof of the histrionic genius of Forrest was given
in the profoundly discriminated manner with which the same mass
and fury of revengeful passion, the same rude breadth and
tenderness of affection and pathos, were shown by him in the two
characters of Metamora and Spartacus. In the Indian there was a
stoical compression of the emotions out of their revealing channels,
an organic suppression of starts and surprises and lamentations, a
profound impassibility of demeanor, an exterior of slow, stubborn,
monotonous self-possession, through which the volcanic ferocity of
the interior crept in words of slow lava, or flared as fire through a
smouldering heap of cinders. In the Thracian there was more variety
as well as incomparably more freedom and impulsiveness of
expression. The exterior and interior corresponded with each other
and mutually reflected instead of contradicting each other. In
different exigencies the gladiator exhibited in his whole person,
limbs, torso, face, eyes, and voice, the extremes of sullen stolidity,
pining sorrow, convulsive grief, ambitious pride, pity, anger,
resolution, and despair, each well shaded from the others. He had a
wider gamut, as civilization is more comprehensive than barbarism.
The movements and expressions of Metamora seemed to be
instinctive, and originate in the nervous centres of the physique;
those of Spartacus to be volitional, originating in the cerebral
centres. In civilized life the body tends to be the reflex of the brain;
in savage life the brain to be the reflex of the body. This historic and
physiological truth Forrest knew nothing about, but the practical
results of the fact he intuitively observed.

The seven characters, now described as fully as the writer can do it

with the data at his command, were the favorite ones in which
Forrest had gained his greenest laurels at the time of his visit to
Europe. Jaffier, Octavian, Sir Edward Mortimer, Sir Giles Overreach,
Iago, and other kindred parts, which he often acted with
distinguished ability and acceptance, he liked less and less, and
gradually dropped them altogether. In Febro, Cade, Melnotte, and
Richelieu he had not yet appeared. His Richard, Macbeth, Othello,
Lear, Hamlet, and Coriolanus will be more appropriately treated in a
later chapter of his life, when he had elaborated his conceptions of
them to the highest finish in his power. But his performances at the
time now under consideration were, in their spiritual substance, their
general treatment and outlines, what they remained to the end. The
subsequent changes were merely improvements in details, in
gradual climax, in grouping, in symmetry and unity. With his
advancing years and experience and study, more and more the parts
were made to grow before the audience, so to speak, from their
roots upward, gaining strength and expansion as they rose. Gusty
irregularity, crudity, misproportion, discord, were carefully struck out,
and harmony secured by the just blending of light and shade. But
from first to last his style was consistent, and, like his personality,
knew no revolutions, only development.
In the practice of his profession it was a noble characteristic of
Forrest that he disliked to impersonate essentially bad or ignoble
characters. He hated to set forth passions, thoughts, or sentiments
meant to be regarded as base and repulsive, unless, indeed, it was
to make them odious and hold them up to detestation. Into this
work he threw himself with a gusto that was extreme. He was but
too vehement in the utterance of sarcastic denunciations of every
form of meanness or cruelty, his relish of the excoriation being often
too keen, his inflection of tone too widely sweeping, and his
emphasis too prolonged for the measure of any average sympathy.
All was sincere with him in it, but his expression was pitched in the
scale of reality, while the appreciation of the listeners was only
pitched in the calmer scale of ideality.
He loved to stand out in some commanding form of virtue, heroism,
or struggle, battling with trials that would appall common souls,
setting a great example, and evoking enthusiasm. This was his glory.
The zeal with which he ever regarded this phase of his profession,
the delight with which he revelled in the contemplation of ideal
strength, fortitude, courage, devotion, was a grand attribute of his
soul. Accordingly, all his favorite parts were expressions of a high-
souled manhood, reverential towards God, truth, and justice, and
fearing nothing; a proud integrity and hardiness competent to every
emergency of life and death; an unbending will, based on right and
entwined with the central virtues of honor, friendship, domestic love,
and patriotic ardor. And surely these are the qualities best deserving
universal respect, the democratic ideals most wholesome to be
cultivated. This is what he most innately loved and stood on the
stage to represent. He did it with immense earnestness and
immense individuality. He did it also with a conscientious devotion to
his chosen art and profession that never faltered. In none of his
performances was there ever anything in the least degree savoring
of pruriency or indelicacy. Never, after his boyhood was past, could
he be induced to appear in any trivial or unmeaning role, destitute of
moral purpose and dignity. With not one of those many innovations
which have detracted so much from the rank and purity of the
drama was his name ever associated. He was ever strongly averse in
his own person to touching in any way any play which was not
enriched and elevated by some imaginative romantic or heroic
creation. And, with a world-wide removal from the so common
frivolity and carelessness of his associates on the boards, he
approached every one of his performances with a studious sobriety,
and went through it with an undeniable dignity and earnestness,
which should have lifted him beyond the reach of ridicule, whatever
were the faults an honorable criticism might affirm.
The substance of the honest objections made to his acting may be
designated as ascribing to it two faults, an excess and a defect. The
excess was too much display of physical and spiritual force in the
expression of contemptuous or revengeful and destructive passion.
There was a basis for this charge, though the accusation was grossly
exaggerated. The muscular and passional strength and intensity of
Forrest, both by constitution and by culture, were so much beyond
those of ordinary men that a manifestation of them which was
entirely natural and within the bounds to him often seemed to them
a huge extravagance, a wilful overdoing for the sake of making a
sensation. In him it was perfectly genuine and not immoderate by
the tests of nature, while to them it appeared far to transgress the
modest limits of truth. Of course such explosions repelled and
pained, sometimes revolted, the sensibilities of the delicate and
fastidious, while the more ungirdled and terrific they were, so much
the greater was the pleased and wondering approval of those whose
sympathies were stormed and self-surrendered. Such was the
histrionic fault of excess in Forrest, if it may not rather be called the
fault of those whose natures were keyed so much below his that
they could not come into tune with him.
The defect corresponding to this excess was lack of souplesse,
physical and spiritual mobility. He was unquestionably deficient,
when tried by a severe standard, in bright, alert, expectant, rich
freedom of play in nerves and faculties. His disposition was
comparatively obstinate in its pertinacity, and his body adhesive in
its heaviness. This gave him the ponderous weight of unity, the
antique port of the gods, but it robbed him in a degree of that
supreme grace which is the ability to compass the largest effects of
impression with the smallest expenditure of energy. It cannot be
denied that he needed exactly what Garrick had in such perfection,
namely, that detached personality, that quicksilver liberty and
rapidity of motion, which made the great English actor such a
memorable paragon of variety and charm. Yet, when these
abatements are all allowed, enough remains amply to justify his
large historic claim in the honest massiveness and glow of his
delineations, set off alike by the imposing physique fit to take the
club and pose for a Farnesian Hercules, by a studious and manly art
unmarred with any insincere trickery, and by a powerful mellow
voice of vast compass and flexible intonation, whose declamation,
modelled on nature, and without theatrical affectation, ever did full
justice to noble thoughts and beautiful words.
Cibber said, in allusion to Betterton, "Pity it is that the momentary
beauties from an harmonious elocution cannot be their own record,
that the animated graces of the player can live no longer than the
instant breath and motion that presents them, or at best but faintly
glimmer through the memory or imperfect attestation of a few
surviving spectators." Could the author of this biography paint in
their true forms and colors and with full completeness the once vivid
and vigorous achievements of the buried master, had he with
sufficient knowledge and memory command of some notation
whereby he could record every light and shade of each great rôle so
that they might be revived from the dead symbols in all the lustre of
their original reality, even as a musician translates from the dormant
score into living music an overture of Mozart or a symphony of
Beethoven, then were there a deathless Forrest breathing in these
pages who should stir the souls of generations of readers to rise and
mutiny against the depreciating estimates of his forgotten foes and
the encroachments of literary oblivion. But, alas! to such a task the
pen that essays the tribute is unequal, and the writer must be
content with the pale presentments he can but imperfectly produce,
sighing to think how true is the refrain of regret taken up in every
age by those who have mourned a departed actor, and never better
worded, perhaps, than in the famous lines by Garrick:

"The painter dead, yet still he charms the eye;

While taste survives, his fame can never die.
But he who struts his hour upon the stage
Can scarce extend his fame for half an age.
Nor pen nor pencil can the actor save,—
The art and artist share one common grave."
 CHAPTER X.
TWO YEARS OF RECREATION AND STUDY IN THE OLD WORLD.

The parting cheers died into silence, the ship began to speed
through the spray, the forms of his friends receded and vanished,
the roofs and spires of the city lowered and faded, the sun sank in
the west, the hills of Neversink subsided below the horizon, and only
the gliding vessel and her foamy wake broke the expanse of ocean
and sky, when the outward-bound Forrest for the first night sought
his berth, relieving the sadness of his farewell to America with
thoughts of what awaited him in Europe and Asia.
Life spread before him an alluring prospect, and nothing which he
could ask to encourage and stimulate his aspirations seemed to be
wanting. When he looked back, he could not fail to be grateful.
Beginning the struggle under such depressing circumstances,—poor,
friendless, uneducated,—he had won a handsome fortune, a national
fame, a host of admiring friends, and no inconsiderable amount of
cultivation and miscellaneous knowledge. And now, at twenty-eight,
with two long years of freedom from all responsibility and care
before him, blessed with superabundant health and strength and
hope, he was on his way to the enchanted scenes of the Old World,
—the famous cities, battle-fields, monuments, art-galleries, and
pleasure-gardens,—of which he had read and dreamed so much. He
was going with an earnest purpose to improve himself as well as to
enjoy himself. This spirit, with a well-filled purse, and the fluent
knowledge of the French language which he had acquired in New
Orleans, were important conditions for the realization of his aim. And
thus, with alternate recollections of those left behind, observations
of the scenery and experiences of marine life, mapping out the
series of places he meant to visit, and thinking over what he would
do, the days wore by. He spread his cloak sometimes on the deck in
the very prow of the vessel, and lying on it upon his back, so that he
could see nothing but the sky and clouds, continued there for hours,
allowing the scene and the strong sensations it awoke to sink into
his soul, feeling himself a little speck floating on a larger speck
between two infinities. He said he often, years afterwards,
associated the remembrance of this experience with speeches of
Lear and Hamlet when representing those characters on the stage.

EDWIN FORREST.
ÆT 21

A fortnight of monotony and nausea, sprinkled with a few

excitements, passed, and the transatlantic shore hove in view, as
welcome a vision as his eyes had ever seen. Landing at Havre, he
bade adieu to Captain Forbes and the good ship Sully, made his way
at once to Paris, and, taking apartments, settled down to that
delightful course of mingled recreation and study to which he had
long been looking forward.
A voyage across the ocean and a two years' residence in Europe for
a young American full of eager curiosity and ambition, cut loose from
the routine and precedents of home and friends, cannot but
constitute an epoch of extreme importance in his life. This must be
true in its effects on the development of his personal character,
detaching him and bringing out his manhood; and, if he is the votary
of any liberal art, true also in its influence on his professional
culture. In 1834 such an enterprise was a greater event than it is
now. The number of American travellers in Europe was nothing like
what it has grown to be since. Furthermore, the multiplication of
books and descriptive letters, giving the most minute and vivid
accounts of all that is most interesting in a journey or residence in
the different countries then visited by Forrest, has been so great,
that any prolonged presentation of his adventures and observations
there would now seem so out of date and out of place as to be an
impertinence. It will suffice for all the legitimate ends of a biography
if a few characteristic specimens of what befell him and what he saw
and did are furnished from his letters, his diary, and his subsequent
conversation. These will indicate the spirit of the man at that time,
and show something of the advantages, personal and professional,
which he gained from the social and artistic sources of instruction
opened to him while abroad. It will be seen that, however strong the
attractions of pleasure were to him, he did not neglect the
opportunities for substantial profit, but, keeping his faculties alert to
observe new phases of human nature and fresh varieties of social
life, he was especially careful to drink in the beauties of natural
scenery and to study the expressive possibilities of the human form,
as illustrated in the works of the greatest artists of ancient and
modern time.
The following letter was written shortly after his arrival in Paris:
"To say that I am pleased with what I have thus far seen of Paris
would be a phrase of very inadequate meaning: I am surprised and
delighted. I have been to the Louvre, the Tuileries, Place Vendôme,
St. Cloud,—here, there, and everywhere,—and I have not yet seen a
twentieth part of the objects which claim a stranger's attention. One
cannot go into the streets for a moment, indeed, but something new
attracts his curiosity; and it seems to me that my senses, which I
have heretofore considered adequate to the usual purposes of life,
ought now to be enlarged and quickened for the full enjoyment of
the objects which surround me. I have, of course, visited some of
the theatres, of which there are upwards of twenty now open. A
number of the best actors, however, are absent from the city,
fulfilling provincial engagements, and may not be expected back for
a month or more. I went to the Théâtre Porte St. Martin the other
night, to see Mademoiselle Georges, now, on the French stage, the
queen of tragedy. I saw her perform the part of Lucrece Borgia, in
Victor Hugo's drama of that name. Her personation was truly
beautiful,—nay, that is too cold a word; it was grand, and even
terrible! Though a woman more than fifty years old, never can I
forget the dignity of her manner, the flexible and expressive
character of her yet fine face, and the rich, full, stirring, and well-
modulated tones of her voice. How different is her and nature's style
from the sickly abortions of the present English school of acting,
lately introduced upon the American stage!—the snakelike writhing
and contortion of body, the rolling and straining of the eyeballs till
they squint, the shuffling gait, and the whining monotone,—how
different, I say, from all this is the natural and easy style of
Mademoiselle Georges! In her you trace no servile imitations of a
bad model; but you behold that sort of excellence which makes you
forget you are in a theatre,—that perfection of art by which art is
wholly concealed,—the lofty and the thrilling, the subdued and the
graceful, harmoniously mingling, the spirit being caught from living
nature. I had been led to believe that, in France, the highest order
of tragic excellence had died with Talma. It is not so. I consider
Mademoiselle Georges the very incarnation of the tragic muse.
"The French, it must be allowed, understand and practise the art of
living independently. They find you furnished apartments according
to your own taste and means—comfortable, handsome, or gorgeous
—in any part of the city or its environs. In your rooms you may
either breakfast, dine, and sup, or take only your coffee there, and
dine at a restaurant. This is to me, a bird of passage, and desirous
of taking a bird's-eye view of things, a delightful mode of living. Paris
is filled with restaurants and cafés of all sorts and sizes, where you
may obtain your 'provant,' as Captain Dalgetty would style it, at
what price you please, from the humble sum of a few sous up to the
emptying of a well-lined purse. Ladies, gentlemen, and whole
families may be seen at these places, enjoying their repast, and the
utmost order and decorum prevail. Some of these cafés are
magnificently furnished. I breakfasted in one yesterday the furniture
and decorations of the salon of which cost eighty thousand francs.
Another agreeable thing in Paris is, that you may one moment be in
the midst of fashion, pomp, and all the hollowness of the flattering
crowd, and the next buried in the sincere quiet of your own
chamber, your very existence blotted from the memories of those
with whom, the unsophisticated might have imagined, your society
was of the utmost consequence. I say this is pleasant when properly
understood and appreciated. All that is required of you is the
superficial courtesy of life, which costs a well-bred man nothing; and
in return you have a well-dissembled friendship, looking like truth,
but which they would not have you to cherish as a reality for the
world. The sentiments of the heart are quite too dull and too
troublesome for their mercurial temperament; and hence you seldom
hear of a Frenchman's having a false friend."
The professional bias which so strongly dominated among the
associations in the mind of Forrest led him very early after his arrival
in the French metropolis, to visit the tomb of Talma. Carrying a fresh
laurel crown under his cloak, he sought out the consecrated place
among the crowd of undistinguished graves, reverently laid his
tribute there, and lingered long in meditation on the career, the
genius, the renown of the greatest stage-actor of France, and the
lessons to be learned from his life and character by ambitious
successors in his art. Thus, like Byron at the grave of Churchill, did
the player draw his profitable homily from "the glory," though, unlike
the morbid bard, he did not think of "the nothing, of a name."
One incident occurred in the experience of Forrest in Paris which has
much significance on several accounts. He had formed a very
pleasant acquaintance with the manager of one of the theatres. This
manager had a protégé of whose nascent talent as an actor he
cherished a high estimate. The youth was to make his début, and
the manager asked the American tragedian to attend the
performance and give his opinion of the promise it indicated. At the
close of the play, asked to state his candid impression without
reserve, Forrest said to the manager, "He will never rise beyond a
respectable mediocrity. It is a perfectly hopeless case. There are no
deeps of latent passion in him, no lava-reservoirs. His sensibility is
quick, but all superficial. But that Jewish-looking girl, that little bag
of bones with the marble face and flaming eyes,—there is
demoniacal power in her. If she lives, and does not burn out too
soon, she will become something wonderful." That little bag of
bones was the then unknown Rachel!
The next selection presented from his correspondence was written
to Leggett several months later, and soon after Jackson's
recommendation of reprisals if the American claims on France were
not paid:
"You see I still date from the gay metropolis of France. The
fascinations of Paris have held me longer than I intended; but I
mean to break from them by the first of next month, and cross into
Italy. I have read the President's admirable message: it breathes a
spirit worthy of himself, worthy of the occasion, worthy of my
country. I refer particularly, of course, to his views relative to France.
His energetic and manly sentiments have had the effect here of once
more Americanizing Americans, and revived within them that love of
country which the pageantry and frivolity, the dreamy and debasing
luxury of this metropolis serve materially to enervate. The Chamber
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