ON ELECTRONIC CONDUCTION IN THE PRE-SWITCHING REGION OF GLASSY SEMICONDUCTING ALLOY-AS40SE30TE30 AND ALLOY-AS20SE50TE30

The off-state direct current I-V characteristics for glassy alloys As//4//0Se//3//0Te//3//0 and As//2//0Se//5//0Te//3//0 at different temperatures were studied. For this study of electrical conduction properties, two kinds of electrode configurations were used: a double-point contact on one surface and a sandwich device. It was found that current flow can be space-charge limited, producing non-ohpmic behavior, which in turn reflects on the electrical switching effect that the materials exhibit. The influence of the selenium content on the electrical properties was also studied. The experimental results obtained were compared with those in the literature, and the differences justified by the method of material preparation. Lastly, the dependence of ohmic resistance on temperature was analyzed, and the characteristic behavior of intrinsic semiconduction observed.