Field-dependent conductivity of chalcogenide glasses

Abstract
The preswitching exponential increase of dark conductivity with field observed in many chalcogenide glasses can be identified with either a change in the free‐carrier concentration or a change in the carrier mobility. Small‐signal photoconductance measurements on thin films of amorphous Te40As35Si15Ge7P3 in the field‐activated regime indicate that it is the carrier concentration which increases exponentially with applied field. In addition, studies of variations in switching parameters introduced by intense electron irradiation suggest that a critical degree of carrier trapping is not a precursor to threshold switching. Both the photoconductivity and the electron‐irradiation results indicate a very short carrier lifetime in these films.

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