A study of soft and hard breakdown - Part I: Analysis of statistical percolation conductance

A theory of the statistical origin of soft and hard breakdown, that can explain a wide range of experimental data, is proposed. The theory is based on the simple premise that the severity of breakdown depends on the magnitude of the power dissipation through the sample-specific, statistically distributed percolation conductance, rather than on any physical difference between the traps involved. This model (a) establishes the connection between the statistical distribution of the theoretically predicted percolation conductance and the distribution of experimentally measured conductances after soft breakdown (Part I), and (b) explains the thickness, voltage, stress, and circuit configuration dependence of soft and hard breakdown (Part II). Connections to previous theories are made explicit, and contradictions to alternate models are resolved.