The switching behaviour of thin films of chalcogenide glass

Abstract

Studies have been made of the temperature dependence of the switching characteristics of thin and thick chalcogenide switches. The onset of break down in both can be described quantitatively be thermal avalanching, although in the former switching disappears at the glass transition temperature. This observation, together with a large activation energy (1·6 ev) deduced from measurement of the recovery time after a single switching event, have been used to formulate a qualitative model of the switching action, after breakdown. It has been suggested that at the glass transition temperature a hightly-conducting phase is precipitated out of the glass matrix to stabilize the temperature, so preventing dielectric breakdown and enabling repeated switching from a resistive to a conducting state.