Near ideal electrical switching in fast ion conducting glasses: Evidence for an electronic process with chemical origin

Bulk AgI based fast ion conducting (FIC) glasses have been prepared by a novel microwave technique. Electrical switching characteristics of these glasses have been investigated for the first time. It has been found that AgI based FIC glasses exhibit a current-controlled high speed memory electrical switching behaviour. SEM, EDAX and ESR investigations have been performed on the virgin and switched sampies to understand the nature of the conducting state. A chemical model is proposed to explain the switching behaviour of these glasses, which is consistent with the observed results.