Calculations of the current-voltage characteristics of electroformed MIM structures, assuming a normal distribution of filamentary radii

Abstract

Abstract Voltage-controlled differential negative resistance (VCNR) is known to occur in many electroformed metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structures. Current-voltage characteristics obtained from electroformed MIM devices can be derived using a model in which conduction is assumed to take place through an array of filaments spanning the two electrodes. The model assumes that conduction through the filaments is ohmic but deviates from this as filaments rupture due to Joule heating. Previous results based on filamentary models have been obtained by assuming that the filament resistances are distributed normally or according to some alternative distribution. Here we consider a filamentary model in which the radii of filaments are taken to be normally distributed. The corresponding current-voltage characteristics are derived and found to be typical of those obtained experimentally.