Electrical instabilities in thin film structures based on molybdenum oxides

Thin films of molybdenum oxide are obtained by thermal vacuum evaporation and anodic oxidation. The results of X-ray structural analysis, investigation of optical and electrical properties are presented. It is shown that the initial vacuum-deposited oxide represents amorphous MoO 3. In the MOM (metal-oxide-metal) structures with Mo oxide films are obtained by the two methods. The effect of electrical switching with an S-shaped current-voltage characteristic is found. We put forward a hypothesis according to which the switching mechanism is associated with the development of electrical instability caused by the insulator-to-metal transition in Mo 8O 23. The switching channel, comprising this lower valence oxide, emerges in the initial film during the process of electrical forming of the MOM structure.