Conduction Mechanism in RuO2-Based Thick Films

• Published in: physica status solidi (b) Vol. 205; no. 1; pp. 399 - 404
• Main Authors: Flachbart, K., Pavlík, V., Tomašovičová, N., Adkins, C. J., Somora, M., Leib, J., Eska, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.01.1998; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• ISSN: 0370-1972; 1521-3951
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-3951(199801)205:1<399::AID-PSSB399>3.0.CO;2-X

The paper presents resistivity characteristics of RuO2‐based thick resistive films (temperature and magnetic field dependences), and analyzes them from the point of view of the possible conduction mechanism at low temperatures. It is shown that simple models based on tunnelling of charge carriers between conductive RuO2 grains and on variable range hopping of carriers between localized impurity states in the glass matrix via thermal activation do not provide a satisfactory explanation for the electrical conductivity of the investigated thick film resistors. We suggest a new mechanism based on tunnelling of electrons through graded barriers between conductive particles which might explain the observed behaviour.