Field induced nucleation in nano-structures

Abstract

We predict the probability of field induced nucleation (FIN) of conductive filaments across the nano-thin dielectric layers in memory and switching devices. The novelty of our analysis is that it deals with a dielectric layer of thickness below the critical nucleation length. We show how the latter constraint can make FIN a truly threshold phenomenon possible only for voltage (not the field) exceeding a certain critical value that does not depend on the dielectric thickness. Our analysis predicts the possibility of threshold switching without memory under certain thickness dependent voltages. In parallel, the thermal runaway mechanism of electronic switching is described analytically leading to results consistent with the earlier published numerical modeling. Our predictions offer the possibility of experimental verifications deciding between FIN and thermal runaway switching.