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

Jiajun Li; Camille Aron; B Kotliar; Jong E. Han

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286

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

Jiajun Li, Camille Aron, B Kotliar, Jong E. Han

School of Arts and Sciences, Physics & Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2994-2998
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	17
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286
State	Published - May 10 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Bioengineering
Chemistry(all)
Materials Science(all)
Condensed Matter Physics
Mechanical Engineering

Keywords

Joule heating
Landau−Zener tunneling
Resistive switching
nonequilibrium Green's function method
nonequilibrium-phase transition

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286

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@article{dfecf2c791744fa593b663c35559bc39,

title = "Microscopic Theory of Resistive Switching in Ordered Insulators: Electronic versus Thermal Mechanisms",

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",

author = "Jiajun Li and Camille Aron and B Kotliar and Han, {Jong E.}",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to Petar Bakalov, Keshav Dani, Sambandamurthy Ganapathy, Pi?a Homm Jara, Hyun-Tak Kim, Mariela Menghini, Marcelo Rozenberg, and Sujay Singh for helpful discussions. We acknowledge the computational support at CCR (SUNY at Buffalo). This work has been supported by the NSF through the grant no. DMR-1308141.",

year = "2017",

month = may,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "17",

pages = "2994--2998",

journal = "Nano Letters",

issn = "1530-6984",

publisher = "American Chemical Society",

number = "5",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Microscopic Theory of Resistive Switching in Ordered Insulators

T2 - Electronic versus Thermal Mechanisms

AU - Li, Jiajun

AU - Aron, Camille

AU - Kotliar, B

AU - Han, Jong E.

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to Petar Bakalov, Keshav Dani, Sambandamurthy Ganapathy, Pi?a Homm Jara, Hyun-Tak Kim, Mariela Menghini, Marcelo Rozenberg, and Sujay Singh for helpful discussions. We acknowledge the computational support at CCR (SUNY at Buffalo). This work has been supported by the NSF through the grant no. DMR-1308141.

PY - 2017/5/10

Y1 - 2017/5/10

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Joule heating

KW - Landau−Zener tunneling

KW - Resistive switching

KW - nonequilibrium Green's function method

KW - nonequilibrium-phase transition

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U2 - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286

DO - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00286

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AN - SCOPUS:85019194742

VL - 17

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EP - 2998

JO - Nano Letters

JF - Nano Letters

SN - 1530-6984

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