Electrical switching studies of lead-doped germanium telluride glasses

Samples of bulk Ge₂₀Te_80-xPb_x(2x8) glasses have been prepared by melt quenching and their electrical switching behavior has been investigated as a function of lead content and sample thickness. The samples are found to exhibit a threshold type of switching. The switching voltages are found to decrease with increase in lead content and they show an anomaly at the composition x=5 and a minimum at the composition x=7.5 respectively. The samples are found to withstand about 28 switching cycles, before latching permanently to the ON state. PACS 61.43.Dq; 61.43.Fs; 72.20.Ht; 72.80.Ng; 73.61.Jc; 84.32.Dd; 85.30.Fg