Nucleation of metals by strong electric fields

Abstract

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Electrostatic Theory of Metal Whiskers

“…The region d = d 0 can be approximated by a potential wall. Following substantiation in the previous work, [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] we consider nucleation along the path d = d 0 ; alternative paths that start from the origin introduce only insignificant numerical factors. Correspondingly, we will use d < ∼ 1 nm in the above Eqs.…”

“…Based on data for other types of systems undergoing field induced nucleation, it was estimated that a reasonable minimum diameter is in the sub-nanometer range. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] Lacking more concrete information, we assume here d 0 < ∼ 1 nm. In the region d > d min , the free energy is substantially larger than described by Eq.…”

Comment on “Threshold switching via electric field induced crystallization in phase change memory devices” [Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 253105 (2012)]

“…We find the conclusion of Diosdado 1 and the underlying approaches 2,3 to be unjustified and misrepresenting our proposed mechanism of FIN, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] as explained below.…”

“…The work by Diosdado 1 is limited to spherical particles, thereby ignoring the main content of FIN theory [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] that the field effect is dominated by elongated particles. As a result, the estimate by Diosdado 1 is related to E 0 and not to the experimentally relevant E $ E c ( E 0 .…”

“…Furthermore, we note that simulation results should not overshadow the experimental evidence that supports FIN while opposing electronic switching models, such as the observations of "underthreshold" switching, threshold voltage dependence on temperature and pulse width, and the statistical distributions of the delay time and threshold field. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Realistic simulation techniques must be able to reproduce those observations as well. We hope this comment will trigger a discussion useful to the entire community of phase change memory and the related topic of field effects in phase transitions.…”