Non-thermal resistive switching in Mott insulator nanowires

Yoav Kalcheim (1) , Alberto Camjayi , Javier del Valle (1) , Pavel Salev (1) , Marcelo Rozenberg (2) , Ivan K Schuller (1)

1 UCSD - UCSD Department of physics
2 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides

Resistive switching can be achieved in a Mott insulator by applying current/voltage, which triggers an insulator-metal transition (IMT). This phenomenon is key for understanding IMT physics and developing novel memory elements and brain-inspired technology. Despite this, the roles of electric field and Joule heating in the switching process remain controversial. Using nanowires of two archetypal Mott insulators-VO 2 and V 2 O 3 we unequivocally show that a purely non-thermal electrical IMT can occur in both materials. The mechanism behind this effect is identified as field-assisted carrier generation leading to a doping driven IMT. This effect can be controlled by similar means in both VO 2 and V 2 O 3 , suggesting that the proposed mechanism is generally applicable to Mott insulators. The energy consumption associated with the non-thermal IMT is extremely low, rivaling that of state-of-the-art electronics and biological neurons. These findings pave the way towards highly energyefficient applications of Mott insulators.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Yoav Kalcheim, Alberto Camjayi, Javier del Valle, Pavel Salev, Marcelo Rozenberg, et al.. Non-thermal resistive switching in Mott insulator nanowires. Nature Communications, 2020, ⟨10.1038/s41467-020-16752-1⟩. ⟨hal-03024587⟩