Field-induced electric switching in sol–gel-derived SiO2 films

The switching dynamics of sol–gel-derived SiO2 films is investigated using voltage pulses over durations from 300 ns to 1 s and amplitudes from 1 to 20 V. The SiO2 film was fabricated using a spin-coating technique and annealed at 100 °C. The shortest switching transit time is found to be on the order of 10 ns. A delay time ranging from 100 ns to 500 ms is usually observed prior to switching, which changes exponentially with the electric field at switching, and also depends strongly on the area of the device.