Activation field, fatigue, and waiting-time effects in KNO3 thin-film memories

Abstract

By analyzing current transient data i(t) from KNO3 thin-film memories in terms of the Ishibashi–Takagi parametrization of the Avrami theory, we have been able to extract detailed information concerning the presence of an activation field (and the absence of a threshold), the relationship between characteristic switching time and spontaneous polarization when both are decreased either by increasing temperature or by repetitive read-write cycles (fatigue), and the behavior of switching kinetics as a function of the delay after application of a dc bias field (‘‘waiting-time’’).