Microscopic Theory of Resistive Switching in Ordered Insulators: Electronic versus Thermal Mechanisms

Nano Lett. 2017 May 10;17(5):2994-2998. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286. Epub 2017 Apr 19.

Abstract

We investigate the dramatic switch of resistance in ordered correlated insulators when they are driven out of equilibrium by a strong voltage bias. Microscopic calculations on a driven-dissipative lattice of interacting electrons explain the main experimental features of resistive switching (RS), such as the hysteretic I-V curves and the formation of hot conductive filaments. The energy-resolved electron distribution at the RS reveals the underlying nonequilibrium electronic mechanism, namely Landau-Zener tunneling, and also justifies a thermal description in which the hot-electron temperature, estimated from the first moment of the distribution, matches the equilibrium-phase transition temperature. We discuss the tangled relationship between filament growth and negative differential resistance and the influence of crystallographic structure and disorder in the RS.

Keywords: Joule heating; Landau−Zener tunneling; Resistive switching; nonequilibrium Green’s function method; nonequilibrium-phase transition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.