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A model for filament growth and switching in amorphous oxide films

Dearnaley, G; Morgan, DV; Stoneham, AM; (1970) A model for filament growth and switching in amorphous oxide films. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids , 4 (C) 593 - 612. 10.1016/0022-3093(70)90097-9. Green open access

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Abstract

The forming process, by which changes are brought about in the electronic conduction of thin films of various binary amorphous oxides and halides, is first described, and experimental evidence is put forward which contradicts an earlier theory of the forming process in gold-silicon monoxide-metal structures. A theory is developed, in terms of the growth and thermal rupture of many conducting filaments through the insulating layer, to explain the observed voltage controlled negative resistance, electron emission, electroluminescence and memory phenomena. The model is presented firstly in its simplest phenomenological form, after which some atomic mechanisms which may be involved are tentatively discussed. It is further shown that there is evidence to suggest that the forming process in important in a wide range of systems. These include metal-oxide-silicon capacitors and transistors, surface-barrier junctions on silicon, oxide-coated thermionic cathodes and anodic oxide layers. Electronic conduction in each of these cases is held to take place through localized filamentary paths. The relationship between this and other filamentary conduction models is briefly discussed, and a general classification of negative-resistance devices into regenerative and non-regenerative systems is made.

Type: Article
Title: A model for filament growth and switching in amorphous oxide films
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/0022-3093(70)90097-9
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-3093(70)90097-9
Language: English
Additional information: Text made available to UCL Discovery by kind permission of Elsevier B.V., 2012. This paper was presented at the International Conference on Amorphous and Liquid Semiconductors which was held in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge from 24-27 September, 1969
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1315337
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