Si3N4 Layer Research Articles

Efficient mass manufacturing of high-density, ultra-low-loss Si3N4 photonic integrated circuits

Silicon nitride (Si3N4) photonic integrated circuits (PICs) offer significant advantages over traditional silicon photonics, including low loss and superior power handling at optical communication wavelength bands. To facilitate high-density integration and effective nonlinearity, the use of thick, stoichiometric Si3N4 films is crucial. However, when using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) to achieve high optical material transparency, Si3N4 films exhibit large tensile stress on the order of GPa, leading to wafer cracking that challenges mass production. Methods for crack prevention are therefore essential. The photonic Damascene process has addressed this issue, attaining record low-loss Si3N4 PICs, but it lacks control of the waveguide height, leading to large random variations of waveguide dispersion and unpredictable spectrum responses of critical functional devices such as optical couplers. Conversely, subtractive processes achieve better dimension control but rely on techniques unsuitable for large-scale production. To date, an outstanding challenge is to attain both lithographic precision and ultra-low loss in high-confinement Si3N4 PICs that are compatible with large-scale foundry manufacturing. Here, we present a single-step deposited, DUV-based subtractive method for producing wafer-scale ultra-low-loss Si3N4 PICs that harmonize these necessities. By employing deep etching of densely distributed, interconnected trenches into the substrate, we effectively mitigate the tensile stress in the Si3N4 layer, enabling direct deposition of thick films without cracking and substantially prolonged storage duration. A secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis reveals that these deep trenches simultaneously serve as gettering centers for metal impurities, in particular copper, thereby reducing the absorption loss in Si3N4 waveguides. Lastly, we identify ultraviolet (UV)-radiation-induced damage that can be remedied through a rapid thermal annealing. Collectively, we develop ultra-low-loss Si3N4 microresonators and 0.5-m-long spiral waveguides with losses down to 1.4 dB/m at 1550 nm with high production yield. This work addresses the long-standing challenges toward scalable and cost-effective production of tightly confined, low-loss Si3N4 PICs as used for quantum photonics, large-scale linear and nonlinear photonics, photonic computing, and narrow-linewidth lasers.

Ski S. V. Influence of gamma irradiation on the reverse current-voltage characteristics of silicon photomultipliers

The study investigated the effect of Co60 gamma-quanta on the reverse current-voltage characteristic (IV) of silicon photomultiplier (SiPMs) with 1004 cells, which themselves were optically isolated from each other n+ –p–p+ -structures. The cells were optically isolated from each other by trenches filled with tungsten after passivation of the walls with SiO2 and Si3N4 layers. Two variants of structural design of SiPMs were studied. Two variants were tested for the trench metal connection in the SiPMs: variant BI connected the trench metal to the n+-region of the cell through a quenching polysilicon resistor, while variant BII connected it to the p+-region. The breakdown voltage of the investigated SiPMs was Ubr = 34 ± 1.0 V. The samples were irradiated in both the active electrical mode (avalanche breakdown mode) and the passive mode (reverse bias Ub = 0 V). It was discovered, that at dose of D = 106 rad, the dark current for SiPM (BI) and (BII) increased by 6–7 times when irradiated in passive mode and by 15–16 times for SiPM (BII) when irradiated in active mode. For SiPM (BI) irradiated in the avalanche breakdown mode, the dark current increased by 104 times at D = 105 rad. The research demonstrates that the radiation-induced degradation of the dark current in the SiPMs under study is due to an increase in the generation and, primarily, surface components. This is a result of the accumulation of positive charge in the insulating layer of the separating trenches.

First-principles simulation of electronic properties of MoB/Si3N4 superlattices via machine learning

MBene materials and Si3N4 materials have excellent properties, but there are still many technical bottlenecks in the preparation of high-performance and flexible structure electronic device materials. In this paper, MBene is combined with Si3N4 materials to form a superlattice structure, which is composed of six superlattice heterostru ctures. Firstly, the first-principles method was used to study the electronic properties of MBene/Si3N4 superlattice materials. The results show that with the increase of stacking times, the material structure becomes more stable, and the interlayer electrons are transferred from the MoB layer to the Si3N4 layer. Second, in the machine learning part, the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm and the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm were used to predict the density of states of six superlattice heterojunctions through ensemble learning, and it was found that the best prediction results were achieved when the input data with a combination of global descriptors and local descriptors were used. The lowest MAE is only 0.03, which not only indicates that the predicted density of states model is excellent, but also proves that the more refined the characterization of the surrounding environment of the atom, the more accurate the prediction of the density of states of the material and the higher the generalization performance of the prediction model.

Far-field sub-diffraction focusing and controlled focus shaping of circularly polarized light using a dielectric phase plate

In recent years, sub-diffraction focusing has received substantial attention due to its versatility. However, achieving a flexible sub-diffraction focusing in the far field remains stimulating. Existing techniques either require complex fabrication facilities or are limited to the short focal length and high numerical aperture (NA) of the imaging system. Here, we introduce an optimization method for sub-diffraction focusing of a circularly polarized beam in the far field with a lens of large focal length. A cost-effective dielectric phase plate serves the purpose. By employing a phase plate composed of a thin layer of dielectric Si3N4, the phase of the propagating beam is modulated in the beam’s cross-section, which is divided into two regions of the opposite phase by the plate. A sub-diffraction focusing is achieved for a proper tunning between the two regions. In addition to sub-diffraction focusing, the phase plate is also capable of shaping the focus into a doughnut-shaped and a flat-top profile in the far field. This design provides a simple solution for sub-diffraction focusing and focus shaping that will find potential applications in optical imaging, optical trapping, and material processing.

Nanocrystalline Diamond Lateral Overgrowth for High Thermal Conductivity Contact to Unseeded Diamond Surface

We demonstrate diamond lateral overgrowth as a way of increasing the thermal conductivity of thin layers of diamond. The technique can be used as a way of growing diamond on top of semiconductors, creating a thin layer of high thermal conductivity diamond in direct contact with semiconductors and allowing for the encasement of GaN in high thermal conductivity diamond.As we move to higher and higher power densities, the requirements for heat removal become extreme. The best passive way to remove heat from a semiconductor is to have a high thermal conductivity heat spreader near the heat source. Having diamond under the substrate is good. Having diamond under the epi is better and having diamond on top and bottom of the epi is better still.As-grown thin layers of diamond on non-diamond substrates have nano-diamond seeds as the starting material. The diamond thermal conductivity is a function of the grain size (Especially for small grain material) [1]. If we can increase the grain of the diamond near the junction, we can increase the thermal conductivity near the junction and more efficiently spread the heat away from the source before rejecting it into the surrounding material.In the experiment, we start with a bare silicon wafer seeded with nano-diamond seeds then grow about one micron of diamond. We coat it with a few nanometers of SiN. Then pattern the SiN layer with 2μm wide features to facilitate the coalescence of LOG-NCD over the SiN. Then we grow a 2μm thick microwave-plasma CVD NCD film (800W, 15Torr, 750°C, 0.3% CH4/H2) over the patterned SiN film initiating directly from the exposed areas of the host NCD. The diamond growth does not initiate on the patterned silicon nitride without seeds. The exposed diamond acts as a nucleating center initiating the diamond regrowth. The regrown diamond spreads from the diamond crystals exposed from the first growth. The edge crystals closest to the SiN patterned area expand over the silicon nitride forming diamond conformal to the SiN surface. This creates large crystals over the unseeded area. Figure 1 is a transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of the sample. The TEM, the image can be split into two regions. The left has no patterning, the called-out grain is 100nm wide. The right is patterned, and the diamond grains are between 1,000 to 2,000nm wide.We measured the thermal conductivity of the diamond on this samples using the TDTR method. This method uses a laser many times larger in diameter than the thickness of the film. As such, we probe the out-of-plane thermal conductivity. The initial diamond growth near the silicon had an average thermal conductivity of 100W/mK. We measured the second micron of growth without patterns to have Tc of 130W/mK. The diamond directly above the patterns had Tc of 260W/mK with grains 10X larger than the un-patterned diamond.Since the diamond grains are columnar, the difference in thermal conductivity between the patterned and un-patterned diamonds was 2X. Lateral measurements would likely show even larger changes in thermal conductivity. With grain sizes of 100 nm to 250 nm (as is the case with seeded diamond), the in-plane thermal conductivity will be dominated by the quality of the grain/grain interfaces and the lateral grain size dimensions rather than for the quality of the lattice. [1] We used lateral overgrowth to increase the grains to microns rather than 100s of nm. This means that we move into a regime where thermal conductivity is dominated by the quality of the diamond in the grains rather than the grain boundaries. As such the thermal conductivity is increased and can be further improved by improving the crystal quality - a parameter which is controlled by the diamond growth conditions. Typically, samples grown with more than 1% methane / hydrogen ratio show lower thermal conductivity [2]. However higher concentrations are important to establish the initial diamond film without damage to the underlying semiconductor. Here, the lateral overgrowth and methane concentration can be balanced to achieve both high thermal conductivity and low damage to the underlying substrate.

Magnetic field sensing elements based on Ni80Fe20 2D magnetoplasmonic crystals

Here we demonstrate the fabrication of magnetic field sensing elements based on 2D magnetoplasmonic crystals prepared using e-beam lithography and magnetron sputtering methods. The magnetoplasmonic crystals consist of square lattice diffraction gratings with varying filling factors layered with Ag, Ni80Fe20, and Si3N4 layers. Based on the magnetic, optical, and magneto-optical studies, the magnetoplasmonic crystal that allows for both high transverse Kerr effect and isotropic in-plane magnetic properties along the diffraction grating vectors was determined. The sensitivity and measuring range of this sample provide a perspective for measuring several components of an external magnetic field.

Enhancement of Interlayer Exciton Emission in a TMDC Heterostructure via a Multi-Resonant Chirped Microresonator Upto Room Temperature.

We report on multi-resonance chirped distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) microcavities. These systems are employed to investigate the light-mater interaction with both intra- and inter-layer excitons of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) bilayer heterostructures. The chirped DBRs consisting of SiO2 and Si3N4 layers of gradually varying thickness exhibit a broad stopband with a width exceeding 600nm. Importantly, the structures provide multiple resonances across a broad spectral range, which can be matched to resonances of the embedded TMDC heterostructures. Studying cavity-coupled emission of both intra- and inter-layer excitons from an integrated WSe2/MoSe2 heterostructure in a chirped microcavity system, an enhanced interlayer exciton emission with a Purcell factor of 6.67 ± 1.02 at 4 K is observed. The cavity-enhanced emission of the interlayer exciton is used to investigate its temperature-dependent luminescence lifetime of 60ps at room temperature. The cavity system modestly suppresses intralayer exciton emission by intentional detuning, thereby promoting a higher IX population and enhancing cavity-coupled interlayer exciton emission. This approach provides an intriguing platform for future studies of energetically distant and confined excitons in different semiconducting materials, which paves the way for various applications such as microlasers and single-photon sources by enabling precise emission control and utilizing multimode resonance light-matter interaction.

Neuron Circuit Based on a Split-gate Transistor with Nonvolatile Memory for Homeostatic Functions of Biological Neurons.

To mimic the homeostatic functionality of biological neurons, a split-gate field-effect transistor (S-G FET) with a charge trap layer is proposed within a neuron circuit. By adjusting the number of charges trapped in the Si3N4 layer, the threshold voltage (Vth) of the S-G FET changes. To prevent degradation of the gate dielectric due to program/erase pulses, the gates for read operation and Vth control were separated through the fin structure. A circuit that modulates the width and amplitude of the pulse was constructed to generate a Program/Erase pulse for the S-G FET as the output pulse of the neuron circuit. By adjusting the Vth of the neuron circuit, the firing rate can be lowered by increasing the Vth of the neuron circuit with a high firing rate. To verify the performance of the neural network based on S-G FET, a simulation of online unsupervised learning and classification in a 2-layer SNN is performed. The results show that the recognition rate was improved by 8% by increasing the threshold of the neuron circuit fired.

Selective Enhancement of Viewing Angle Characteristics and Light Extraction Efficiency of Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Organic Light-Emitting Diodes through an Easily Tailorable Si3N4 Nanofiber Structure.

We selectively improved the viewing angle characteristics and light extraction efficiency of blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by tailoring a nanofiber-shaped Si3N4 layer, which was used as an internal scattering layer. The diameter of the polymer nanofibers changed according to the mass ratio of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in the polymer solution for electrospinning. The Si3N4 nanofiber (SNF) structure was fabricated by etching an Si3N4 film using the PAN/PMMA nanofiber as a mask, making it easier to adjust parameters, such as the diameter, open ratio, and height, even though the SNF structure was randomly shaped. The SNF structures exhibited lower transmittance and higher haze with increasing diameter, showing little correlation with their height. However, all the structures demonstrated a total transmittance of over 80%. Finally, by applying the SNF structures to the blue TADF OLEDs, the external quantum efficiency was increased by 15.6%. In addition, the current and power efficiencies were enhanced by 23.0% and 25.6%, respectively. The internal light-extracting SNF structure also exhibited a synergistic effect with the external light-extracting structure. Furthermore, when the viewing angle changed from 0° to 60°, the peak wavelength and CIE coordinate shift decreased from 20 to 6 nm and from 0.0561 to 0.0243, respectively. These trends were explained by the application of Snell's law to the light path and were ultimately validated through finite-difference time-domain simulations.

Patterning and epitaxy of large-area arrays of nanoscale complex oxide epitaxial heterostructures

A combination of block copolymer (BCP) lithography and solid-phase epitaxy can be employed to form large areas, on the order of square centimeters, of a high density of epitaxial crystalline complex oxide nanostructures. We have used BCP lithography with a poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) copolymer to template a nanohole array either directly on an (001)-oriented SrTiO3 (STO) single crystal substrate or on a 20 nm-thick Si3N4 layer deposited on the STO substrate. BCPs with the selected compositions assembled in a cylindrical phase with 16 nm diameter PMMA cylinders and a cylinder-to-cylinder spacing of 32 nm. The substrate was modified with an energetically non-preferential polymer layer to allow for the vertical alignment of the cylinders. The PMMA cylinders were removed using a subtractive process, leaving an array of cylindrical holes. For BCPs assembled on Si3N4/STO, the pattern was transferred to the Si3N4 layer using reactive ion etching, exposing the underlying STO substrate in the nanoholes. An amorphous LaAlO3 (LAO) layer was deposited on the patterned Si3N4/STO at room temperature. The amorphous LAO epitaxially crystallized within the nanoscale-patterned holes with fully relaxed lattice parameters through solid phase epitaxy, resulting in the formation of nanoscale LAO/STO epitaxial heterostructures.

Silicon nitride (Si3N4) leads to enhanced performance of silica-silver based plasmonic sensor for colorectal cancer detection under optimum radiation damping

Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) possesses large refractive index and transparent behaviour in a broad spectral range from ultraviolet to infrared. These properties of Si3N4 facilitate an efficient light-matter interaction leading to enhanced light confinement. In this work, we have investigated Si3N4-based plasmonic sensor for pathogenic colorectal tissues detection at a wavelength of 1000 nm. The sensor structure consists of fused silica prism and Ag–Si3N4 heterojunction. The figure-of-merit (FOM) of the sensor is optimized by judiciously coordinating the thickness of Ag layer (dM) and Si3N4 layer (dA) under optimum radiation damping (ORD). An optimized FOM as high as 6011 RIU−1 (at dM = 47.3 nm) has been achieved corresponding to dA = 8.6 nm under ORD. At ORD, the corresponding power loss ratio (PLR) is as high as 2.773, and the normalized electric field enhancement factor (FEF) is about 1.06. The magnitude of combined performance factor (CPF), which is the product of FOM, PLR and FEF, of the proposed sensor is as large as 17668.61 RIU−1. The proposed application of Si3N4 in plasmonic sensor in combination with ORD condition leads to substantially enhanced sensing performance and has been explored for the first time to the best of our knowledge.

Ultra-low loss compact active TM mode pass polarizer using phase change material in silicon waveguide

An active low-loss transverse magnetic (TM) pass polarizer, based on the phase change material (Ge2Sb2Te5), is proposed. The proposed polarizer is based on silicon-on-insulator technology that consists of a silicon waveguide that incorporates a thin layer of Si3N4 placed in-between GST. Enhancing the interaction between light and GST is achieved by strategically placing a double-layer GST adjacent to the slot waveguide. The polarizer’s tunability, on the other hand, depends on the shift in the refractive index (RI) of GST as it transitions between its crystalline and amorphous phases. By optimizing the structure, the polarizer exhibits negligible loss for both modes in the amorphous phase, and with the change of phase to crystalline, the loss of TE mode is more than 8 dB. In contrast, the loss of TM is less than 0.05 dB with a high ER of 21.82 dB, propagation length of 79.89 µm and Figure of merit reaches up to 108 at 1550 nm. Due to the combination of these performance parameters, the suggested active TM pass polarizer is an appealing and effective device for various photonic applications. In addition, the fabrication technique of the proposed active TM pass polarizer is explained.

Broadband anti-reflection coating for Si solar cell applications based on periodic Si nanopillar dimer arrays & Si3N4 layer

A structure of periodic Si nanopillar dimer array & Si3N4 layer which sits on Si substrates is presented to obtain a broadband high transmission and low reflection. We show numerically that the average reflection of this structure can reach 1.8%, and the average transmission can reach 93.1% in the 400–1100 nm range, due to the combined effects of the forward scattering effects of Si nanopillar dimers and Si3N4 layer’s anti-reflection effects. Si nanopillars’ diameter and height, Si3N4 layer’s height, the gap of dimers, and the period of the array have significant impacts on the transmittance and reflection. This work supplies a practicable way for decreasing broadband surface reflection and increasing the absorption of light for Si solar cell applications.

A High-Efficiency Wideband Grating Coupler Based on Si3N4 and a Silicon-on-Insulator Heterogeneous Integration Platform.

To fully utilize the advantages of Si3N4 and Silicon-On-Insulator to achieve a high-efficiency wideband grating coupler, we propose and numerically demonstrate a grating coupler based on Si3N4 and a Silicon-On-Insulator heterogeneous integration platform. A two-dimensional model of the coupler was established and a comprehensive finite difference time domain analysis was conducted. Focusing on coupling efficiency as a primary metric, we examined the impact of factors such as grating period, filling factor, etching depth, and the thicknesses of the SiO2 upper cladding, Si3N4, silicon waveguide, and SiO2 buried oxide layers. The calculations yielded an optimized grating coupler with a coupling efficiency of 81.8% (-0.87 dB) at 1550 nm and a 1-dB bandwidth of 540 nm. The grating can be obtained through a single etching step with a low fabrication complexity. Furthermore, the fabrication tolerances of the grating period and etching depth were studied systematically, and the results indicated a high fabrication tolerance. These findings can offer theoretical and parameter guidance for the design and optimization of high-efficiency and broad-bandwidth grating couplers.

Preparation of laser induced periodic surface structures for gas sensing thin films and gas sensing verification of a NiO based sensor structure

Abstract This study presents different approaches to increase the sensing area of NiO based semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors. Micro- and nanopatterned laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are generated on silicon and Si/SiO2 substrates. The surface morphologies of the fabricated samples are examined by FE SEM. We select the silicon samples with an intermediate Si3N4 layer due to its superior isolation quality over the thermal oxide for evaluating the hydrogen and acetone sensitivity of a NiO based test sensor.

Highly enhanced and stable field emission performance of CNT – Dielectric (Si3N4) hybrids

In the present study, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown onto Si substrates using a simple thermal chemical vapour deposition (TCVD) technique. Subsequently, the dielectric layer of Si3N4 was coated over the pristine CNTs using the Plasma Enhanced CVD (PECVD) method. Various characterizations were carried out on the as-deposited samples to study the structural properties, surface morphology, elemental composition, and electronic structure. The field emission measurements executed on CNT – Si3N4 samples showed an enhanced current density of 8.28 mA/cm2 compared to the 2.85 mA/cm2 current density of the pristine CNTs. A detailed study reveals that, apart from the basic conventional field emission parameters, the electronic structure of the CNTs, along with the presence of disordered carbon atoms and the presence of the dielectric material, are responsible for enhancing the current density and temporal stability of the CNT – Si3N4 hybrids. The study aids in exploring CNT-dielectric hybrids for better field emission properties with improved stability for field emission applications.

Clean SiO2 atomic layer etching based on physisorption of high boiling point perfluorocarbon.

This study aimed to evaluate the SiO2 atomic layer etching (ALE) process that is selective to Si3N4 based on the physisorption of high boiling point perfluorocarbons (HBP PFCs; C5F8, C7F14, C6F6, and C7F8 have boiling points above room temperature). The lowering of the substrate temperature from 20 °C to -20 °C not only increased SiO2 etch depth per cycle (EPC) but also increased etch selectivity of SiO2/Si3N4 to near infinity. Due to the differences in fluorocarbon adsorption at a temperature during the physisorption depending on boiling points of PFCs, the desorption time and ion bombardment energy during the desorption step needed to be optimized, and higher ion bombardment energy and longer desorption time were required for higher HBP PFCs. Even though near infinity etch selectivity of SiO2/Si3N4 was obtained, for the SiO2 etching masked with Si3N4 patterns, due to the adsorption of PFC on the sidewall of the Si3N4 layer, the difficulty in anisotropic etching could be observed. By adding an O2 descumming step in ALE processes, an anisotropic SiO2 etch profile could be obtained with no adsorption of fluorocarbon on the chamber wall. Therefore, it is believed that the HBP ALE processes can be applicable for achieving high selective SiO2/Si3N4 with more stability and reliability.

Improvement of Retention Characteristics Using Doped SiN Layer Between WL Spaces in 3D NAND Flash

Improvement of Retention Characteristics Using Doped SiN Layer Between WL Spaces in 3D NAND Flash

ВПЛИВ ЛАЗЕРНОГО ВИПРОМІНЮВАННЯ НА ОПТИЧНІ ВЛАСТИВОСТІ ТОНКИХ ПРИПОВЕРХНЕВИХ ШАРІВ НАПІВПРОВІДНИКІВ

Optical studies of the reflection spectra of n-Si(100) single crystals with a resistivity of ρ = 5 Ω∙cm; n-GaAs with a resistivity of ρ = 10 Ω∙cm; CdTe (111) with a resistivity of ρ = (2÷5)∙109 Ω∙cm; Cd1-хZnxTe (x=0.1) solid solutions with resistivity ρ = (5÷30)∙109 Ω∙cm in the spectral range (0.2-1.7)-10-6 m before and after laser irradiation in the energy range 66 mJ/cm2-108 mJ/cm2 for n-Si (100) and n-GaAs (100), in the energy range of 66 mJ/cm2 - 164 mJ/cm2 for CdTe(111), in the energy range of 46.6 mJ/cm2 - 163.5 mJ/cm2 for Cd1-хZnxTe (x=0.1) solid solutions. An increase in the reflectivity of single crystals of n-Si (100), n-GaAs (100), p-CdTe (111) and solid solutions of Cd1-хZnxTe (x=0.1) under this laser treatment was experimentally observed. This integral effect is explained by the differences in the optical characteristics of the near-surface layer and the material volume (the complex refractive index of the near-surface layer differs from the complex refractive index of the material volume). The obtained spectra of optical reflection of the samples show that laser-stimulated interaction of impurities and defects occurs during irradiation, which leads to the formation of neutral complexes and a decrease in the intensity of impurity scattering processes. Experimental studies have shown that the main mechanism of pulsed laser irradiation influence on the optical properties of thin surface layers of the studied crystals is structural heterogeneity, i.e. absorption due to the presence of semiconductor sites with defective structure and the ability to actively absorb point defects and bind impurities. In silicon, the role of a heter is played by the surface layers of SiOx, SiO2, Si3N4, SiO2-xP, SiC and others; in gallium arsenide, by Ga2O3, As2O5 and others; in p-CdTe (111) single crystals and Cd1-хZnхTe (x = 0.1) solid solutions, the role of a getter is played by cadmium, tellurium, zinc oxides and their complexes.

Effect of Nitrogen Ion Diffusion Jumps in Nanometer-Sized Si3N4 Memristors Investigated by Low-Frequency Noise Spectroscopy

The elementary jumps in the electron current through conducting filaments of two nanometer-sized virtual memristor structures consisting of a contact of a conductive atomic force microscope probe to the Si3N4 layer with the thickness of 6[Formula: see text]nm deposited onto the [Formula: see text]-Si(001) conductive substrates are investigated. These structures are: (S1) the Si3N4/Si film; (S2) the Si3N4/SiO2/Si stack, a similar structure with 2[Formula: see text]nm SiO2 sublayer between the film and the substrate. Usually, such investigations are performed by the analysis of the waveform of this current with the aim of extracting the random telegraph noise (RTN). Here, we develop a new indirect method, which is based on the measurement of the spectrum of the low-frequency flicker noise in the current without extracting the RTN. We propose that the flicker noise is caused by the motion (drift/diffusion) of nitrogen ions via vacancies within and around the filament. The number of these ions is estimated by taking into account the geometrical parameters of the filament. This allows us to estimate the root mean square magnitude [Formula: see text] of the current jumps, which are caused by random jumps of nitrogen ions, and the number M of these ions. This is fundamental for understanding the elementary mechanisms of the electron current flowing through the filament and the resistive switching in memristor devices.