Effect of plasma treatment of the dielectric on electroforming of a thin-film MIM system

It was found that when a thin dielectric film is exposed to the plasma of a low-voltage gas discharge, channels with elevated conductivity form in the film and these channels significantly facilitate the subsequent electroforming of the MIM system. It is concluded from the experimental data that even in the case of metallic electrodes highly conducting channels are formed in the dielectric by electronic processes occurring under the conditions of a strong electric field and not by diffusion of the electrode material.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 94–98, October, 1991.