Role of highly doped Si substrate in bipolar resistive switching of silicon nitride MIS-capacitors

Bipolar resistive switching of the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitor-like structures with the inert Au top electrode and Si3N4 dielectric nanolayer (6nm thick) has been investigated. The effect of highly doped n+-Si substrate is revealed related to the changes in semiconductor space charge region on the small-signal parameters of parallel and serial equivalent circuit models measured in the high- and low-resistive capacitor states, as well as under laser illumination. The increase in conductivity of semiconductor capacitor plate significantly reduces the charging and discharging times of capacitor-like structures. [Display omitted] •Fully CMOS-compatible Au/Si3N4/n+-Si memristors are fabricated.•Intrinsic bipolar resistive switching is observed in Si3N4/Si nanostructure.•n+-Si substrate affects the small-signal parameters in different resistive states.