Fig. 4: Two routes for resistive switching in a Mott insulator.
From: Non-thermal resistive switching in Mott insulator nanowires
a–d Schematic representation of Joule heating and field-driven IMT switching in a Mott insulator. In a system with no defects a, only a small number of thermally activated carriers are present in the upper Hubbard band (UHB). Application of a strong electric field, depicted as strong band tilt c, accelerates these carriers causing Joule heating due to scattering. In a system with defects b, a moderate electric field promotes carriers from in-gap states into the UHB d resulting in collapse of the Mott insulator state via a doping-driven IMT. e Phase diagram of the single band Hubbard model based on DMFT calculations. The colored arrows schematically denote the two possible routes towards the metallic phase when applying electric field as discussed in a–d. Defects increase the effectiveness of carrier emission and facilitate a doping driven non-thermal IMT.
