Silicon oxide and silicon nitride are two key dielectrics in silicon devices. The advantage of Si₃N₄ over other dielectrics is that silicon nitride is compatible with silicon technology. It is required to study in detail the charge transport mechanism in a Si₃N₄-based memristor to further improve the cell element and to create a matrix of these elements. Despite many research activities carried out, the charge transport mechanism in Si₃N₄-based memristors is still unclear. Metal–nitride–oxide–silicon structures that exhibit memristor properties were obtained using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition at 700 °C. The fabricated metal–nitride–oxide–silicon memristor structure does not require a forming procedure. In addition, the metal–nitride–oxide–silicon memristor has a memory window of about five orders of magnitude. We found that the main charge transport mechanism in the metal–nitride–oxide–silicon memristor in a high resistive state is the model of space-charge-limited current with traps. In a low resistive state, the charge transport mechanism is described by the space-charge-limited current model with filled traps. Trap parameters were determined in the Si₃N₄-based memristor in the high resistive state.

The p-Si(or n-Si)/GeO[SiO₂] (or GeO[SiO])/indium-tin-oxide (ITO) structures were fabricated by simultaneous evaporation of GeO₂ and SiO₂ (or SiO) powders in high vacuum and further deposition of ITO contacts using the magnetron sputtering technique. The structural properties of the GeO[SiO₂] and GeO[SiO] films were studied using FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. According to Raman data, the GeO[SiO] films deposited at a temperature of 100 °C contain amorphous Ge clusters. Their current-voltage characteristics were measured in the air atmosphere, and resistive switching (memristor effect) was observed in structures without a preliminary forming procedure. The Shklovskii-Efros percolation model gives a consistent explanation for the charge transport in the high-resistive state and the low-resistive state of memristors based on GeO[SiO₂] or GeO[SiO] films.

Traditional Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) is a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure, in which metal oxide is usually used as an insulator. The charge transport mechanism of traditional RRAM is attributed to a metallic filament inside the RRAM. In this paper, we demonstrated a novel RRAM device with no metal inside. The N⁺-Si/SiO_x/P⁺-Si combination forms a N⁺IP⁺ diode structure that is different from traditional MIM RRAM. A large high-resistance/low-resistance window of 1.9 × 10⁴ was measured at room temperature. A favorable retention memory window of 1.2 × 10³ was attained for 10⁴ s at 85 °C. The charge transport mechanism of virgin, high- and low-resistance states can be well modeled by the single Shklovskii-Efros percolation mechanism rather than the charge transport in metallic filament. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that the value of x in SiO_x was 0.62, which provided sufficient oxygen vacancies for set/reset RRAM functions.

Amorphous silicon nitride is a key dielectric in silicon devices. The advantage of SiN_x and Si₃N₄ over other dielectrics is that silicon nitride is compatible with silicon technology and is widely used in it. It is necessary to understand, experimentally and theoretically, the mechanism of charge transport in a memristor based on silicon nitride in the initial, high-resistance, and low-resistance states to develop a resistive memory element. At present, there is currently no single universal model of charge transport in a memristor based on silicon nitride. In our work, the charge transport of the initial, high, and low resistive states in an SiN_x-based memristor is analyzed with four bulk-limited charge transport models. It is established that the Frenkel model of Coulomb traps ionization, Hill-Adachi model of overlapping Coulomb traps, and Makram-Ebeid and Lannoo model of multiphonon isolated traps ionization, quantitatively, do not describe the charge transport of the SiN_x-based memristor in any state. The Nasyrov-Gritsenko model of phonon-assisted tunneling between traps gives a consistent explanation of the charge transport of the SiN_x-based memristor in all states at temperatures above room temperature.

Nonstoichiometric silicon oxide SiO_x is a promising material for developing a new generation of high-speed, reliable flash memory based on the resistive effect. It is necessary to understand the electron transport mechanism of the high-resistive state in SiO_x to develop a resistive memory element. At present, it is generally accepted that the charge transport of the high-resistive state in the Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) is described by the Frenkel effect. In our work, the charge transport of the high-resistive state in RRAM based on SiO_x is analyzed with two contact-limited and five volume-limited charge transport models. It is established that the Schottky effect model, thermally assisted tunneling, the Frenkel model of Coulomb trap ionization, the Makram-Ebeid and Lannoo model of multiphonon isolated trap ionization, and the Nasyrov-Gritsenko model of phonon-assisted tunneling between traps, quantitatively, do not describe the charge transport of the high-resistive state in the RRAM based on SiO_x. The Shklovskii-Efros percolation model gives a consistent explanation for the charge transport of the high-resistive state in the RRAM based on SiO_x at temperatures above room temperature.