Electrically Driven Insulator–Metal Transition-Based Devices—Part I: The Electrothermal Model and Experimental Analysis for the DC Characteristics

We present a device model for the electrically driven insulator-to-metal transition (E-IMT) that captures the essential physics in E-IMT and can be used for physical device simulations and mixed-mode simulations of circuits containing IMT elements. Aspects of the model include the temperature-dependent resistivity, Joule heating, heat transport, and the spatial and dynamic coupling of the above phenomenon. We show that the model captures the dc and transient characteristics as measured by experiments. The model points out the existence of two critical transition voltages (V
_c
) under bidirectional sweep, the physical origin of this hysteresis, and correctly predicts the scaling of the critical voltage for transition V
_c
with the device size. The models' effectiveness as a basis for developing a mixed-mode circuit simulator is shown via comparison with experimental data for a steep-swing hybrid-field-effect transistor.