Voltage-Induced Effect on Resistance of C:N/Si Heterojunctions

Nitrogen doped a-C/Silicon (a-C:N/Si) heterojunctions have been fabricated by using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique and their current-voltage characteristics at various temperatures are investigated. For reverse applied voltages, a-C:N/Si heterojunctions exhibit metal-insulator transition characteristics and the transition temperature can be controlled by the applied voltages. After the excitation of repeated high reverse applied voltages, the current-voltage curves show obvious hysteresis behaviors at low temperatures. These hysteresis behaviors are reproducible and the ratio of the high/low resistance can be greater than 10⁴.