Conduction mechanisms in Lillie's iron-wire model of nerve.

Based on theory and experiment, we found that the conduction through the oxide film in Lillie's iron-wire model is dominated by Schottky emission at low fields (below 10(6) v/cm), by electron tunneling from trap to trap at intermediate fields and by direct tunneling (Fowler-Nordheim type) at higher fields (above 3 x 10(6) v/cm). The trap-to-trap tunneling is considered to give rise to the negative resistance and the fixed position of the current maximum as observed. Some of the nervelike properties of the Lillie's model are interpreted on this tunneling mechanism.