title: There's no place like Ohm: conduction in oxide thin films.
abstract: A pedagogical essay is given that alerts researchers to the errors inherent in assigning linear I(V) current-voltage dependences to Ohmic conduction. Such a linear I(V) is necessary but not sufficient, since other mechanisms, including Simmons' modification of the basic Schottky emission theory, also give linear I(V) at small applied voltages. Discrimination among Ohmic, Schottky, space-charge limited, and other models requires accurate thickness dependence I(d) data, where for Ohmic conduction I=a/d, whereas for interface-limited mechanisms such as Simmons/Schottky, I is nearly independent of d.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides