Thickness dependence of breakdown field in thin films

Abstract Studies of the thickness dependence of dielectric breakdown in thin films are of fundamental importance for the development of devices. Here a systematic study of the d.c. breakdown in “built-up” ionic films of barium stearate is reported in the thickness range (25–2000 A). These films are ideally suited for such studies because of their perfect reproducibility and control of their thicknesses which are uniform and very accurately known. The breakdown strength is found to be a power dependent function of thickness as predicted by Forlani and Minnaja's theory based on an electron ionization avalanche mechanism. The films studied have recently been found to be promising for making devices.