Ramp Reversal Memory and Phase-Boundary Scarring in Transition Metal Oxides

Abstract

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are complex electronic systems which exhibit a multitude of collective phenomena. Two archetypal examples are VO2 and NdNiO3, which undergo a metal-insulator phase-transition (MIT), the origin of which is still under debate. Here we report the discovery of a memory effect in both systems, manifest through an increase of resistance at a specific temperature, which is set by reversing the temperature-ramp from heating to cooling during the MIT. The characteristics of this ramp-reversal memory effect do not coincide with any previously reported history or memory effects in manganites, electron-glass or magnetic systems. From a broad range of experimental features, supported by theoretical modelling, we find that the main ingredients for the effect to arise are the spatial phase-separation of metallic and insulating regions during the MIT and the coupling of lattice strain to the local critical temperature of the phase transition. We conclude that the emergent memory effect originates from phase boundaries at the reversal-temperature leaving `scars` in the underlying lattice structure, giving rise to a local increase in the transition temperature. The universality and robustness of the effect shed new light on the MIT in complex oxides.

arXiv comment18 pages, 4 figures, supporting information in publisher web-site

References in corpus (21)

• Colossal Magnetoresistant Materials: The Key Role of Phase Separation
• Critical phenomena in complex networks
• Complexity in Strongly Correlated Electronic Systems
• Mott transition in VO2 revealed by infrared spectroscopy and nano-imaging
• Strain engineering and one-dimensional organization of metal-insulator domains in single-crystal VO2 beams
• Measurement of a solid-state triple point at the metal-insulator transition in VO2
• Physics of ultrathin films and heterostructures of rare earth nickelates
• Heterointerface engineered electronic and magnetic phases of NdNiO3 thin films
• Strongly Correlated Materials
• Multiple Avalanches Across the Metal-Insulator Transition of Vanadium Oxide Nano-scaled Junctions
• Novel dynamical effects and persistent memory in phase separated manganites
• Tunable Charge and Spin Order in PrNiO${}_3$ Thin Films and Superlattices
• Signature of persistent metallic domains in FORC measurements of the VO${}_2$ metal-insulator transition
• Strain-mediated metal-insulator transition in epitaxial ultra-thin films of NdNiO3
• A Nanoscale Shape Memory Oxide
• Sequential Electronic and Structural Transitions in VO2 Observed Using X-ray Absorption Spectromicroscopy
• Correlation-driven insulator-metal transition in near-ideal vanadium dioxide films
• Striped nanoscale phase separation at the metal-insulator transition of heteroepitaxial nickelates
• Electron Glass Dynamics
• Glassy behavior of electrons near metal-insulator transitions
• Selective Interface Control of Order Parameters in Complex Oxides

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Hydrogenating VO2 with protons in acid solution
• Magnetoresistance anomaly during the electrical triggering of a metal-insulator transition
• Multibridge VO2-Based Resistive Switching Devices in a Two-Terminal Configuration
• Ramp reversal memory in bulk crystals of 1T-TaS2
• Disentangling transport mechanisms in a correlated oxide by photoinduced charge injection