Light-Assisted Resistance Collapse in a V2O3-Based Mott-Insulator Device
Year: 2021
Authors: Ronchi A., Franceschini P., Homm P., Gandolfi M., Ferrini G., Pagliara S., Banfi F., Menghini M., Locquet J-P, Giannetti C.
Autors Affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, Leuven, 3001, Belgium; Department of Mathematics and Physics, Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Brescia, I-25121, Italy; ILAMP (Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Materials Physics), Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Brescia, I-25121, Italy; CNR-INO, Via Branze 45, Brescia, 25123, Italy
Abstract: The insulator-to-metal transition in Mott insulators is the key mechanism for most of the electronic devices belonging to the Mottronics family. Intense research efforts are currently devoted to the development of specific control protocols, usually based on the application of voltage, strain, pressure, and light excitation. The ultimate goal is to achieve the complete control of the electronic phase transformation, with dramatic impact on the performance, for example, of resistive-switching devices. Here, we investigate the simultaneous effect of external voltage and excitation by ultrashort light pulses on a single Mottronic device based on a V2O3 epitaxial thin film. The experiments are supported by both finiteelement simulations of the thermal problem and a simpler lumped-element model. The thermal models are benchmarked against results obtained at very low applied voltage (AV = 5 mV). When the voltage is significantly increased (AV = 0.5 V), but still in the linear below-switching-threshold region, our results show that the light excitation drives a volatile resistivity drop, which goes beyond the combined effect of laser and Joule heating. Our results impact on the development of protocols for the nonthermal control of the resistive-switching transition in correlated materials.
Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW APPLIED
Volume: 15 (4) Pages from: 044023-1 to: 044023-9
More Information: C.G., A.R., and P.F. acknowledge Andrea Tognazzi for the support in the development of the experimental setup. C.G. and A.R. acknowledge Dr. Alessandro Bau and Professor Vittorio Ferrari (Information Engeenering Department, Universite degli Studi di Brescia) for thesupport given during the wirebonding of the device. We thank Frederik Ceyssens for his help with the fabrication of electrical contacts on the samples. C.G., A.R., and P.F. acknowledge financial support from MIUR through the PRIN 2017 program (Prot. 20172H2SC4_005) . G.F. and C.G. acknowledge support from Universite Cattolica del Sacro Cuore through D.1, D.2.2, and D.3.1 Grants. F.B. acknowledges financial support from Universite de Lyon in the frame of the IDEXLYON ProjectProgramme Investissements d´Avenir (ANR-16-IDEX-0005) and from Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1 thorugh the BQR Accueil EC 2019 Grant. P.H., M.M., and J.-P.L. acknowledge support from EU-H2020-ICT-2015 PHRESCO Project, Grant Agreement No. 688579. P.H. acknowledges support from Becas ChileCONICYT. M.G. acknowledges financial support from the CNR Joint Laboratories program 20192021.KeyWords: thermal-conductivity; critical-behavior; transitionDOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.15.044023