posted on 2021-08-02, 13:04authored byJohn C. Read, Derek A. Stewart, James W. Reiner, Bruce D. Terris
The physical properties of ovonic
threshold switching (OTS) materials
are of great interest due to the use of OTS materials as selectors
in cross-point array nonvolatile memory systems. Here, we show that
the topological constraint theory (TCT) of chalcogenide glasses provides
a robust framework to describe the physical properties of sputtered
thin film OTS materials and electronic devices. Using the mean coordination
number (MCN) of an OTS alloy as a comparative metric, we show that
changes in data trends from several measurements are signatures of
the transition from a floppy to a rigid glass network as described
by TCT. This approach provides a means to optimize OTS selector materials
for device applications using film-level measurements.