Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-72csx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T07:55:11.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Area-Dependent Switching in Thin Film-Silicon Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jian Hu ,
Warren Jackson ,
Scott Ward ,
Pauls Stradins ,
Howard M. Branz  and
Qi Wang
Jian Hu
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Warren Jackson
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
Scott Ward
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Pauls Stradins
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Howard M. Branz
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Qi Wang
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Get access

Abstract

We report on the area dependence of switching in both Cr/p+a-Si:H/Ag(Al) and Cr/p+μc-Si/Ag(Al) filament switches. The doped amorphous (a-Si:H) or microcrystalline (μc-Si) thin Si layers are made by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition. The device active region area (A) is varied over 5 orders of magnitude, from 10-7 to 10-2 cm2, using photolithographically defined Ag and Al top contacts. Before switching, the resistance of 100-μm2 devices is normally about 100 kΩ for μc-Si and 10 GΩ for a-Si:H. After switching with applied current ramps, the resistance decreases to a few hundred ohms in all a-Si devices and to a few thousands ohms in μc-Si devices. In both μc-Si and a-Si:H devices, the switching voltage (Vsw) decreases with increasing device area according to Vsw ~ V0-αln(A/A0) with α=0.3V for a-Si:H and α=0.04V for μc-Si. For both materials, the switching current roughly obeys the power law Isw ∞ Aβ with β~1. A statistical model is proposed to explain the area scaling of the switching voltage and relate the parameters to the material properties.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 762: Symposium A – Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Silicon-Based Films – 2003 , 2003 , A18.3
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Hajto, J., Owen, A. E., Snell, A. J., LeComber, P. G., and Rose, M. J., Amorphous and Crystalline Semiconductor Devices, edited by Kanicki, J., (Artech House, 1992), p. 641. See also references cited therein.Google Scholar
[2] Jafar, M. and Haneman, D., Phys. Rev. B 49, 13611 (1994)Google Scholar
[3s] Gordon, K. and Wong, R., IEEE IEDM Tech. Dig., 27 (1993)Google Scholar
[4] Snell, A. J., LeComber, P. G., Hajto, J., Rose, M. J., Owen, A. E., and Osborne, I. S., J. NonCryst. Solids, 137&138, 1257 (1991)Google Scholar
[5] Hu, J., Branz, H.M., Crandall, R.S., Ward, S., Perkins, C. and Wang, Q., Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. vol.715, pp.763 (2002)Google Scholar
[6] Mahan, A. H., Carapella, J., Nelson, B.P., Crandall, R. S., and Balberg, I., J. Appl. Phys., 69, 6728 (1991)Google Scholar