Non-Gaussianity of resistance fluctuations near electrical breakdown
C. Pennetta, Eleonora Alfinito, Lino Reggiani, Stefano Ruffo · Semiconductor Science and Technology · 2004
We study the resistance fluctuation distribution of a thin film near electrical breakdown. The film is modelled as a stationary resistor network under biased percolation. Depending on the value of the external current, on the system sizes and on the level of internal disorder, the fluctuation distribution can exhibit a non-Gaussian behaviour. We analyse this non-Gaussianity in terms of the generalized Gumbel distribution recently introduced in the context of highly correlated systems near criticality. We find that when the average fraction of defects approaches the random percolation threshold, the resistance fluctuation distribution is well described by the universal behaviour of the Bramwell–Holdsworth–Pinton distribution.