Effect of Doping of Ag/α-Si Memristors with Ti

Abstract

Cation-based memristors are promising candidates for applications in next-generation computing due to their low power consumption, high scalability, and analogue switching capability. However, Si-based memristors typically require relatively high electroforming voltages, which negatively affect reliability and energy efficiency. In this work, we investigate the effect of Ti incorporation into α-Si on the electrical properties of α-Si:Ti/Ag memristors by varying the Ti concentration up to 27.4%. The electroforming voltage is reduced from 5.0 V in undoped devices to 1.1 V for the samples with the highest Ti concentration, while high ON/OFF resistance ratios (~10⁶), stable retention for at least 12 h, and multilevel resistance states (>10³) are preserved. These improvements can be attributed to the immobile sites in α-Si created by Ti that serve as the foundation for Ag filament formation. The results open new ways for optimising the performance of Si-based memristors by engineering the bulk switching medium.