Origins of anomalous electronic transport in amorphous carbon

Amorphous forms of carbon (a-C) have been known to span the electrical behavior spectrum from graphite (conductive) to diamond (insulating). However, they also exhibit unique properties like resistive switching (RS) under applied fields. The mechanism underlying RS behavior in a-C remains a mystery. In this work, sandwich structures composed of sputtered a-C films between metal electrodes were fabricated, and their I/V curves were studied by cyclic voltammetry under changing conditions. The results are presented in light of spectroscopic data of the films (RBS, SEM, EDX) to illuminate physical mechanisms which could underpin the switching behavior.