Current fluctuations in three-dimensionally stacked Si nanocrystals thin films

In this letter, we report a phenomenon of the current fluctuations by measuring lateral conduction of the three-dimensionally stacked Si nanocrystal (SiNC) thin films based on thin film transistor structures. Through measuring current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, drain-source current (I_ds) exhibits fluctuations in particular gate voltage (V_g) and drain voltage (V_ds) ranges. The experimental results show that the characteristics of the current fluctuations are changed with changing the charging situations of the SiNC thin films. The phenomenon of the current fluctuations can be well explained by the model that the conduction is dominated by the charging/discharging processes of those SiNCs which exist in the intersection of the several current paths.