Electrical and thermal analysis of frequency dependent filamentary switching in printed rectifying diodes

Filamentary conduction and switching properties are studied in printed rectifying diodes with a poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA) semiconductor layer sandwiched between Cu and Ag electrodes. Formation of conductive filaments caused defective operation of the rectifier at low frequencies. In contrast, the normal operation was restored at high frequencies. Reversible switching was observed between the low and high frequency states. Therefore, it is clear that the operational frequency has a significant effect on the filament formation and switching characteristics. The filamentary conduction was confirmed by lock-in IR thermography and physical defect analysis. The results reveal the existence of filamentary operation in p-type rectifying diodes and clearly demonstrate the effect of the device operation frequency on the switching properties. This has far-reaching implications on the switching properties in similar devices in literature.