National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Tomoyuki Tamura

Hiroyuki Akinaga

Hisashi Shima

Shoji Ishibashi

The present invention provides a rectifier element that has a titanium oxide layer interposed between first and second electrodes containing a transition metal with an electronegativity larger than that of Ti, wherein, in the titanium oxide layer, only the interface on the side facing any one of the electrodes has a stoichiometric composition, and wherein the average composition of the whole layer is represented by the formula TiO(wherein x satisfies the relationship 1.6&#x2266;x&#x3c;2), and wherein the rectifying characteristics can be reversed by applying a reverse electrical signal that exceeds the critical reverse electric power between the first and second electrodes in an opposite direction. The present invention also provides a process for producing a rectifier element, which includes the steps of depositing a first electrode that contains a transition metal with an electronegativity larger than that of Ti on a substrate; depositing a layer of titanium oxide (TiO, wherein x satisfies the relationship 1.6&#x2266;x&#x3c;2) on the first electrode; exposing the surface of the titanium oxide (TiO) layer to oxygen atmosphere; and depositing a second electrode containing a transition metal with an electronegativity larger than that of Ti on the surface of the titanium oxide (TiO) layer exposed to the oxygen atmosphere.

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Tsukuba, Japan

Tomoyuki Tamura