METAL INCORPORATION AND HEAT-PULSE MEASUREMENT IN AMORPHOUS-HYDROGENATED-SILICON QUANTUM DEVICES

Amorphous-hydrogenated-silicon double Schottky switching diodes in whi ch one contact is vanadium, formed to produce switching, can show disc rete steps in the I-V characteristics in the ON state at resistances o f h/2ne2 where n is an integer. We present experimental data to show t hat the forming temperature of the device is in excess of 1100 K, whic h can allow diffusion. Auger-electron-spectroscopy depth profiling sho ws that the top electrode penetrates significantly into the film in th e formed devices, as theorized previously to explain the quantum pheno mena. An elemental compositional analysis of the diffused metal region is presented. Resistance plots at various temperatures are consistent with the matrix containing vanadium particles.