Separating electric field and thermal effects across the metal-insulator transition in vanadium oxide nanobeams

Abstract

We present results from an experimental study of the equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport properties of vanadium oxide nanobeams near the metal-insulator transition (MIT). Application of a large electric field in the insulating phase across the nanobeams produces an abrupt MIT and the individual roles of thermal and non-thermal effects in driving the transition are studied. Transport measurements at temperatures ($T$) far below the critical temperature ($T_c$) of MIT, in several nanoscale vanadium oxide devices, show that both $T$ and electric field play distinctly separate, but critical roles in inducing the MIT. Specifically, at $T<<T_c$ electric field dominates the MIT through an avalanche-type process, whereas thermal effects become progressively critical as $T$ approaches $T_c$.

13 pages, 5 figures

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• VO2: A Novel View from Band Theory
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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Proliferation of metallic domains caused by inhomogeneous heating near the electrically-driven transition in VO${}_2$ nanobeams
• Influence of thermal boundary conditions on the current-driven resistive transition in $\mathbf{V}{\mathbf{O}}_2$ microbridges