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Switching transition

Term · Chemistry · MLC-T-CHM-011718

A voltage-driven transition in semiconducting glasses, typically chalcogenides, in which an applied field above a threshold value triggers an avalanche of conduction electrons. The resulting current melts a small filament, which then crystallises into a highly conducting path. The same effect underlies phase-change memory cells, which store data as glassy or crystalline states.

Table 1. Record
IdentifierMLC-T-CHM-011718
FieldChemistry
SubjectInorganic Chemistry
ReferencesPAC, 1994, 66, 577. 'Definitions of terms relating to phase transitions of the solid state (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 592 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466030577)
See alsoCrystallization; Melting
Record as JSON 
{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-011718",
  "term": "Switching transition",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "A voltage-driven transition in semiconducting glasses, typically chalcogenides, in which an applied field above a threshold value triggers an avalanche of conduction electrons. The resulting current melts a small filament, which then crystallises into a highly conducting path. The same effect underlies phase-change memory cells, which store data as glassy or crystalline states.",
  "subject": "Inorganic Chemistry",
  "see_also": [
    "crystallization",
    "melting"
  ],
  "references": [
    "PAC, 1994, 66, 577. 'Definitions of terms relating to phase transitions of the solid state (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 592 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466030577)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/switching-transition/"
}

Record 12,489 of 13,676 in Chemistry terminology (MLC-0109). Request the full dataset.