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Conduction and Threshold Switching in Amorphous Silicon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

A. Sa-Neto
A. Sa-Neto*
Affiliation:
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Apartado 1827, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela.
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Abstract

We report on measurements of conduction, threshold switching and high frecuency oscillations (∼100 MHZ) on amorphous silicon prgduced by RF sputtering in lateral devices with a very small (4µm2 to 40µm2 ) metalic contact area. The results show that the mechanism of threshold switching in this material is not due to the formation of a metalic filament through diffusion of the contacts. A small amount of Hydrogen (PH2/PAr=0.025) is sufficient to inhibit threshold switching. The “Zero voltage” resistance is reproducible and seems to be independent of the switching events.

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12.An other possible mechanism of breakdown was proposed by the referee. He suggested that the observed effects could be indicative of the breackdown of a contact resistance having a resistivity of 107 Q cm as compared to the ohmic resjstance of unhydrogenated a-Si which is typically on the order of 10 f2cm.Google Scholar