Transition characteristics of on-off state of a amorphous chalcogenide semiconductor

Electronic switching transitions between on-and off-state were investigated to explore the electronic processes responsible for the transition and to obtain informations on threshold switching mechanism. To this and experimental as well as analytical investigations were carried out on the switching behaviour in a transient state arising from a voltage pulse applied to amorphous chalcogenide thin films at room temperature. The results can be explained in terms of a simple theoretical model of the electronic characteristics of switching. The injection of carriers are necessary to initiate the switching action and injected carriers contribute to the current flow as a space-charge limited current (SCLC). The proposed charge controlled switching characteristics can be explained by double injection space-charge overlapping model. (author)