JOURNAL OF NON-CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS 2 (1970) 504--514 © North-Holland Publishing Co.

, A m s t e r d a m

OVONIC THRESHOLD SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS

ROY R. SHANKS
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., Troy, Michigan 48084, U.S.A.

The Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS),a two-terminal symmetrical voltage sensitive switching
device, is a new circuit element, and must be characterized before it can be used in a prac-
tical manner by circuit designers. The purpose of this paper is to perform that task. The
OTS is characterized in terms of both its static and dynamic parameters. A study is made
of the blocking state and of the conducting state of the OTS. Experiments on switching,
both from the blocking to the conductive state and vice versa, are discussed. Also included
is a study of enrgy and charge switching requirements and the effect of pre-breakdown
bias voltage and polarity reversals on the turn-on mechanism.
The static and dynamic parameters are characterized in terms of temperature, device
geometry and other parameters. It is shown that polarity reversals during the pre-break-
down period do not affect delay time and that pre-bias reduces delay time independently
of polarity.
1. Introduction

I n f o r m a t i o n p r e s e n t e d in this p a p e r describes electrical characteristics o f

a typical Ovonic T h r e s h o l d Switch (OTS)I). D a t a p r e s e n t e d were o b t a i n e d
using devices p a c k a g e d in a DO-7 configuration i n c o r p o r a t i n g p y r o l y t i c
c a r b o n electrodes a n d an active m a t e r i a l thickness o f a p p r o x i m a t e l y one
micron, p r o v i d i n g switches in the l 5 to 20 V region. The device characteriza-
tion d a t a presented was derived for use in circuit design a n d to further elu-
cidate switching mechanisms. I n c l u d e d are a d e s c r i p t i o n of:
(a) static characteristics for b o t h the b l o c k i n g a n d the c o n d u c t i n g states,
(b) the d y n a m i c s o f switching including turn ON a n d t u r n OFF, a n d
(c) p r e - b r e a k d o w n bias a n d p o l a r i t y effects on the turn on process.

2. Static characteristics

Fig. 1 shows an oscilloscope p h o t o g r a p h o f the I - V characteristic o f a

typical OTS a l o n g with an e x a g g e r a t e d line d r a w i n g which will be used to
defined static p a r a m e t e r s . As the a p p l i e d voltage across a device initially
in a b l o c k i n g state is increased, the leakage c u r r e n t (11) increases in a some-
w h a t n o n l i n e a r fashion described b y an o h m i c region n e a r zero a n d an
e x p o n e n t i a l region at higher voltages. W h e n the a p p l i e d voltage reaches a
critical t h r e s h o l d value, Vt, c o r r e s p o n d i n g to a t h r e s h o l d current, It, the
device r a p i d l y switches to the c o n d u c t i n g state. The c o n d u c t i n g state is

504
 OVONIC THRESHOLD SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS 505

Y
t

E
AI l"- ~
o
R Av
Oyn-~]
-V T 4-IH, ',%
IT
I ii ,
~" _IH VI 5 volt/cm . Typical OTS Characteristics
-x/VV" ....

Va OTS
T
Fig. 1. Ovonic Threshold Switch I - V characteristic.

characterized by an approximately constant conduction voltage, V~, at low

operating currents which increases slightly at high operating currents due
to a small dynamic resistance, Rd- The conducting state will be retained as
long as operating current remains above a critical holding value, Ih. When
the current is reduced below Ih, which is typically between 0.3 and 0.7 mA,
the device reverst rapidly back to the blocking state.
The threshold voltage of an oxs, defined as the minimum voltage at
which the device will switch, is measured using a slow rise-time wave form
such as a 60 Hz sine wave. Fig. 2 presents a plot of Vt as a function of tem-

20
.q
>
v

<~ 15
ua

F-

lO
u~
uJ
cc

0
-50 -25 0 25 50 75 100 125

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES CENTIGRADE~

Fig. 2. Threshold voltage versus temperature for a 15 V OTS.

506 R.R. SHANKS

perature, indicating that threshold voltage decreases with increasing tem-

perature at a rate of about 0.7% per degree C. Vt increases with an increase
in active material film thickness, in the range investigated i.e. below 5/~m.
Of course, material composition is a strong factor in determining threshold
voltage and pressure has also been found 2) to decrease Vt.
The leakage current in an OTS is a nonlinear function of an applied voltage
and temperature. Detailed measurements relating the applied voltage and
leakage current at various temperature have been reported earlier 2, 3). Fig. 3
shows the plot of I t a s a function of temperature for a typical OTS. Im is
dependent on both materials and device geometry with active film area and
material resistivity being major factors.

1000

100 IJ

J
J
J
J
1
50
J 25 0 25 50 75 100 126
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES CENTIGRADE)

Fig. 3. Leakage current at threshold versus temperature.

b 2
/
z)

o
o .2 4 .6 8 1
CONDUCTION CURRENT (AMPS}

Fig. 4. The conduction voltage as a function of current at 20°C.

 OVONIC THRESHOLD SWI TCHI NG CHARACTERISTICS 507

The conduction voltage, V¢, of an OTS is weakly dependent on conduction

current and temperature as shown in figs. 4 and 5. Pulse methods were
used for the measurement of V¢ as a function of current to avoid temperature
effects. The conduction voltage which consists not only of the voltage drop
across the amorphous film but in addition the voltage drops originating in
the package is relatively insensitive to electrode materials and active material

<~

>o i

i !
o I I -
i

i
40 20 0 2Q 40 60 80 I00
TEk~PERATURE °C

Fig. 5. The conduction voltage as a function of temperature at a current of 6 mA.

thickness at moderately low operating currents. However at high operating

currents Vc increases particularly in the case of electrode materials having
higher resistivity. Device variations to achieve a Vt range from 10 to 200 V,
result in a Vc variation of less that 1 V at a conduction current of 10 mA.

3. Dynamic characteristics

Switching delays are observed in an oxs for both the turn on and the turn
off operations. When a rectangular pulse having an amplitude in excess of
Vt is applied to an OTS, the device will not switch immediately to the con-
ducting state; instead a time increment will exist between the occurrence
of the leading edge of the applied pulse and a rapid transition from the
blocking to the conducting state. This time increment is termed delay time,
td. The delay time decreases rapidly as the applied voltage exceeds the thresh-
old voltage Vt as shown in the photograph of fig. 6 and the plot shown in
fig. 7. At large voltages the delay time varies approximately exponentially
with the applied voltage as shown in fig. 7. The device parameter having
the greatest effect on delay time is the film thickness, where increases in
thickness result in increases in delay time. An active film thickness of 0.8/~m
results in a threshold voltage of about 15 V and a delay time between 1 and
508 R.R. SHANKS

OTS PULSE
RESPONSE

500 nsec/cm

. lJV~ ~5
qu
-ToScopedelay
~_.~e
Pulse
Generator] L
0~.
L_ #for current limiting)

Fig. 6. A multi-exposure photograph of a voltage pulse being applied to an OTS. As

pulse amplitude is increased, delay time decreases.

29 ¸

27'

% 25
o
23

>o 21
2

~7

1E
\
.001 ,01 10
DELAYTIME(MICRO--SECONDS}

Fig. 7. The delay time as function of applied voltage. The lowest voltage on the curve
represents the threshold voltage.

5/~sec while a thickness o f 1.6/tm results in a threshold voltage o f about

25 V and a delay time of 5 to 10/~sec.
After the delay time, td, described above the OTS undergoes a very rapid
transition to the oN state. This transition time has been measured using
sampling equipment to be approximately 0.15 nsec in a oo-7 package. This
 OVONIC THRESHOLD SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS 509

measurement only signifies an upper bound for the transition time, since
the response time of the package is of the same order of magnitude.
When the operating current in the device in the conduction state is reduced
below I h, the OTS requires a short time period, termed recovery time tr,
typically of the order of 1 to 2 psec, to regain its threshold voltage value.
If during the recovery period a voltage is applied to the oxs, switching can
occur at voltages below the initial threshold voltage. Since the turn on
process is characterized by two variables, voltage and delay time, and the
recovery process is also a function of time, the recovery characteristic is
dependent upon the pulse waveform. From a circuit design standpoint, a
desirable characterization is one that defines the maximum time constant
and amplitude alowable for an exponentially rising voltage applied to an oxs
without causing switching. The data used to develop the recovery curve
shown in fig. 8 was taken using exponential waveforms, and, therefore,
contains this information. As long as the applied voltage does not exceed that
shown on the curve, the OTS will not switch during the recovery period.

/
>

_z

0.8 1.6 24 32 4.0

TIME (MICRO SECONDS)

Fig. 8. Recovery time envelope developed with exponential waveforms, if the applied
voltage does not exceed the amplitude of the curve the OTSwill not retire.

Recovery time can also be characterized using other applied waveforms

such as step voltage, a rectangular pulse, a sinusoidal waveform, etc. Each
variation in waveform will result in a slight difference in the recovery en-
velope as shown in fig. 8, since the retiring of the device is both amplitude
and time dependent.
The recovery time envelope is somewhat dependent on the conduction
current preceding turn off as shown in fig. 9. As in the case of the delay
time, the recovery time increases as the film thickness is increased.
510 R.R. SHANKS

50 I I I

40-

Z
U3 30
t~
tr

t,)

Z
0 20
I-

z
0
c~ I0 -
/o o O

0 I I
0 I 2 5 4

RECOVERY TIME (# seconds)

Fig. 9. The recovery time as a function of conduction current. The recovery time plotted
is the point on the recovery envelope which represents about 0.9 of its m a x i m u m amplitude.

4. Pre-breakdown effects

To enhance the knowledge of switching mechanisms and as an additon

to circuit design parameters, the following measurements were taken to
100 - 100 OI
~J, ENERGY

SS~ ~'P
/
, .,---~,,.....~
,
~ O L T A G E
> s" /
~10 10 - lq ,0 f
/
>o /

1 1-

DELAYTIME (# SEC)
Fig. 10. Turn-on requirements of an OTS in terms of energy, charge and voltage.
 OVONIC THRESHOLD SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS 511

define the effect of pre-breakdown conditions on the switching process.

These measurements consisted of determining: (a) the energy and charge
required to fire the device, (b) the effectiveness of a high frequency square
wave in firing the device, and (c) the effect of a pre-bias at below-threshold
voltage in firing conditions.
Fig. l0 is a plot of the energy, charge, and voltage required to switch a
typical OTS for different delay times, with a rectangular applied voltage
pulse. These measurements were made using the circuit shown in fig. 11.

E.-H 132A-8 I( 47 pf.

PULSE GENERATOR
OTS

TEXTRONIX 6 0 4 6 ~> IO0_,"L

DIFFERENTIAL PROBE ~..
WITH XIO ATTENUATER

F i g . 11. Circuit used for the measurements of energy and charge.

The charge which flows through the OTS also flows through the capacitor, C,
and produces a change in voltage, AV, on the capacitor C. The charge, Q,
delivered to the OTS is Q=AVC. The energy delivered to the OTS is Energy=
= Q Vo where Vo is the average voltage across the OTS during the firing period.
These data indicate that neither energy nor charge requirements for switching
are constant. However, it is possible that all of the energy or charge delivered
to the device does not participate in the switching action.
The following experiment was performed to determine if the applied
voltage during the firing period must be of one polarity or if this voltage
could be divided into segments of alternating polarity but of the same aver-
age voltage as the single polarity pulse. Three experiments were conducted,
one with a single unipolar pulse of a width greater than the delay time,
one with a 2.5 MHz square wave firing waveform and one with a series of
unipolar pulses which simulate a full wave rectified version of the square
wave waveform. These experiments were conducted using the test apparatus
shown in fig. 12. Fig. 13 shows the three waveforms, which are of equal
amplitude being applied to an OTS. The single unipolar pulse resulted in a
delay time of 0.5/tsec. Both the bipolar waveform and unipolar pulse train
512 R. R, SHANKS

G.R. 1217-B
PULSE GEN.

E-H 132A-8 I ~ K
PULSE GEN.

OTS

E-H 152A-8 .~/~

PULSE GEN. 1K

Fig. 12. Test apparatus used for the experiments on polarity and pre-bias effects.

0-- A) Single unipolar pulse

10 V/cm 0 - B) Bipolar pulse train

0-- C) Unipolar pulse train

0.5/tsec/cm

Fig. 13. Scope traces showing the relative effect of a single pulse, a bipolar waveform
and a unipolar pulse train on delay t i m e
 OVONIC THRESHOLD SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS 513

resulted in delay times only slightly longer than for the single unipolar
pulse. This slight increase in delay time can be attributed to the finite rise
and fall time of the unipolar and bipolar pulse trains. It can be concluded
from these experiments that the OTS turn on mechanism is not polarity
sensitive.
An experiment was conducted to determine the effect on the OTS delay
time of a bias pulse of an amplitude slightly less than the threshold voltage
applied immediately before a firing pulse of given amplitude. Three tests
were performed; one with a rectangular firing pulse without a bias pulse, one
with a bias pulse and firing pulse, both of the same polarity, and one with a
bias pulse and firing pulse of opposite polarities. Trace D of fig. 14 shows the

0-- D) Single level pulse

l0 V/cm 0 - E) Positive switching

0-- F) Negative switching

0.5 ttsec/cm
Fig. 14. The effect of pre-bias pulses of both polaritys on delay time.

results of applying a single rectangular firing pulse resulting in a t a of

0.4 psec. Traces E and F show the switching characteristics of the oTs when
the bias pulse is included. In traces E and F the bias pulse and firing pulse
were of the same and opposite polarity respectively. Although the amplitude
for the firing pulse was the same for all three experiments, both experiments
which included the bias pulse resulted in delay times of 0.2 psec which were
significantly shorter than the delay time for the unbiased firing pulse, but
514 R.R. SHANKS

they were approximately equal to each other. It can be concluded from these
experiments that a pre-bias at a voltage less than Vt can significantly reduce
the OTS switching delay time and that the pre-bias effect is independent of
its polarity.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Dr. H. Fritzsche for suggesting the bipolar and
pre-bias experiments, and D. Nelson for his aid and suggestions. Also the
assistance of B. Stockemer and L. Swartz is appreciated. This work was
partially supported by the Air Force Avionics Laboratory.

References
1) S. R. Ovshinsky, Phys. Rev. Letters 21 (1968) 1450;
S. R. Ovshinsky, E. J. Evans, D. L. Nelson and H. Fritzsche, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.
NS-15 (1968) 311.
2) P. J. Walsh, R. Vogel and E. J. Evans, Phys. Rev. 178 (1969) 1274.
3) E. A. Fagen, H. Fritzsche and S. R. Ovshinsky, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc [II] 14 (1969) 311.