Abstract
The Mott insulator compounds AM4Q8 exhibit a new type of volatile and non volatile resistive switchings that are of interest for RRAM application. We found that above a threshold electric field E TH of the order of a few kV/cm these compounds undergo a volatile resistive switching based on an avalanche process. For electric field much higher than the threshold avalanche breakdown field, the resistive switching turns non volatile. Our EDXS and STEM analyses show that the non volatile resistive switching originating from the avalanche breakdown can neither be ascribed to local chemical modifications nor to a local phase change with symmetry breaking at a resolution better than a few nanometer. This is in strong contrast with non volatile resistive switching reported so far that are all based on chemical or structural changes. Conversely, our results suggest that the avalanche breakdown induce the collapse of the Mott insulating state at the local scale and the formation of a granular conductive filament formed by compressed metallic domains and expanded “superinsulating” domains.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
“International technology roadmap for semiconductors” 2011, www.itrs.net
R. Waser, M. Aono, Nat. Mater. 6, 833 (2007)
M. Rozenberg, Scholarpedia 6, 11414 (2011)
A. Sawa, Materials Today 11, 28 (2008)
J. Yang, I. Inoue, T. Mikolajick, C. Hwang, MRS Bull. 37, 131 (2012)
J. Yang, D. Strukov, D. Stewart, Nature Nanotechn. 8, 13 (2012)
Y. Pershin, M. Di Ventra, Adv. Phys. 60, 145 (2011)
A. Lacaita, D. Wouters, Physica Status Solidi (a) 205, 2281 (2008)
R. Waser, R. Dittmann, G. Staikov, K. Szot, Adv. Mater. 21, 2632 (2009)
J. Kim, C. Ko, A. Frenzel, S. Ramanathan, J. Hoffman, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 213106 (2010)
A. Zimmers, L. Aigouy, M. Mortier, A. Sharoni, S. Wang, K. West, J. Ramirez, I. Schuller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 056601 (2013)
T. Driscoll, H. Kim, B. Chae, M. Di Ventra, D. Basov, Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 043503 (2009)
M. Qazilbash, M. Brehm, B. Chae, P. Ho, G. Andreev, B. Kim, S. Yun, A. Balatsky, M. Maple, F. Keilmann, et al., Science 318, 1750 (2007)
R. Waser, Nanoelectronics and Information Technology (Wiley, 2012)
L. Cario, C. Vaju, B. Corraze, V. Guiot, E. Janod, Adv. Mater. 22, 5193 (2010)
V. Guiot, L. Cario, E. Janod, B. Corraze, V.T. Phuoc, M. Rozenberg, P. Stoliar, T. Cren, D. Roditchev, Nature Comm. (2012) (accepted)
C. Vaju, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Janod, V. Dubost, T. Cren, D. Roditchev, D. Braithwaite, O. Chauvet, Adv. Mater. 20, 2760 (2008)
C. Vaju, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Janod, V. Dubost, T. Cren, D. Roditchev, D. Braithwaite, O. Chauvet, Microelectronic Eng. 85, 2430 (2008)
E. Souchier, L. Cario, B. Corraze, P. Moreau, P. Mazoyer, C. Estournès, R. Retoux, E. Janod, M.-P. Besland, Phys. Status Solidi RRL 5, 53 (2011)
E. Souchier, L. Cario, B. Corraze, C. Estournes, V. Fernandez, T. Skotnicki, P. Mazoyer, E. Janod, M.-P. Besland, Proc. IEEE Int. Memory Workshop IMW ’09, 1 (2009)
E. Souchier, C. Vaju, V. Guiot, B. Corraze, E. Janod, J. Tranchant, P. Mazoyer, M.-P. Besland, L. Cario, Proc. 3rd IEEE Int. Memory Workshop (IMW), 1 (2011)
E. Souchier, M. Besland, J. Tranchant, B. Corraze, P. Moreau, R. Retoux, C. Estournès, P. Mazoyer, L. Cario, E. Janod, Thin Solid Films (2012)
H. Yaich, J. Jegaden, M. Potel, M. Sergent, A. Rastogi, R. Tournier, J. Less Common Metals 102, 9 (1984)
R. Pocha, D. Johrendt, B. Ni, M.M. Abd-Elmeguid, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 8732 (2005)
E. Dorolti, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Janod, C. Vaju, H. Koo, E. Kan, M. Whangbo, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 5704 (2010)
C. Vaju, J. Martial, E. Janod, B. Corraze, V. Fernandez, L. Cario, Chem. Mater. 20, 2382 (2008)
V. Ta Phuoc, C. Vaju, B. Corraze, R. Sopracase, A. Perucchi, C. Marini, P. Postorino, M. Chligui, S. Lupi, E. Janod, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 037401 (2013)
M. Abd-Elmeguid, B. Ni, D. Khomskii, R. Pocha, D. Johrendt, X. Wang, K. Syassen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 126403 (2004)
J.L. Hudgins, G.S. Simin, E. Santi, M.A. Khan, Power Electronics, IEEE Trans. 18, 907 (2003)
J.L. Hudgins, J. Electronic Mater. 32, 471 (2003)
E. Levinshtein, J. Kostamovaara, S. Vainshtein, Breakdown Phenomena in Semiconductors and Semiconductor Devices (World Scientific, 2005)
J. Tranchant, E. Janod, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Souchier, J. Leclercq, P. Cremillieu, P. Moreau, M. Besland, Thin Solid Films (2012) doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2012.10.104
V. Dubost, T. Cren, F. Debontridder, D. Roditchev, C. Vaju, V. Guiot, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Janod, arXiv preprint [arXiv:1205.4548] (2012)
V. Dubost, T. Cren, C. Vaju, L. Cario, B. Corraze, E. Janod, F. Debontridder, D. Roditchev, Adv. Funct. Mater. 19, 2800 (2009)
D.B. McWhan, A. Menth, J.P. Remeika, W.F. Brinkman, T.M. Rice, Phys. Rev. B 7, 1920 (1973)
F. Aurenhammer, ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 23, 345 (1991)
M.M.A. Ferrero [arXiv:1105.4246] [cs.CG], (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corraze, B., Janod, E., Cario, L. et al. Electric field induced avalanche breakdown and non-volatile resistive switching in the Mott Insulators AM4Q8 . Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 222, 1046–1056 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2013-01905-1
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2013-01905-1