Abstract
The effect of composition on amorphous chalcogenide threshold switches of the system SixTe60-xAs30Ge10, wherex = 5, 10, 12 and 20, has been studied. The compositionx = 5 shows the best switching characteristics, e.g. the smallest holding voltage (Vh = 0.4V), the highest ON state current (Ih = 45μA) and smallest threshold voltage (Vs = 1.5V). Applying the three mechanisms of conductance of Mottet al. (Phil. Mag.37 (1975) 961), it is found that for a particular compositionσ2 <σ1 <σ0 (the pre-exponential factors) andW2 < (Ea −E1 +W1) < (Ec −Ef) (whereEa,Ec andEe = activation energies at band edge, fermi level and conduction band;W1 andW2 = activation energy for hopping). It was found that the density of states at the fermi levelN(Ef) increases with the decrease of silicon content. The results provided further evidence against thermal interpretations and thereby support electronic models of threshold switching for these glass systems.
Published Version
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