''Concerted'' regeneration of electroformed metal-insulator-metal devices

Filament regeneration has been investigated in electroformed Cu-SiOx-Cu sandwich devices at cryogenic temperatures (approximate to 125 K). The initial regeneration characteristics can be modeled by proposing a new scheme, which we term ''concerted regeneration.'' This is the preferential regeneration of filaments located close to intact filaments (which generate a local increase in temperature via power dissipation). This coordination in the regeneration of filaments can also cause ''explosive regeneration,'' the rapid regeneration of a batch of filaments, and thus a sudden jump in the device current, and also ''concerted rupture,'' a sudden drop in conductivity due to a batch of filaments rupturing simultaneously. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.