Resistive switching in reverse: voltage driven formation of a transverse insulating barrier

TL;DR

This paper reports a novel resistive switching mechanism where an insulating barrier forms perpendicular to the current, enabling voltage-controlled magnetism and revealing new insights into metal-insulator transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a new type of resistive switching involving transverse barrier formation, contrasting with traditional filament-based switching, and demonstrates control of ferromagnetism via voltage.

Findings

Discovery of transverse insulating barrier formation

Observation of N-type negative differential resistance

Voltage-controlled local ferromagnetism

Abstract

Application of an electric stimulus to a material with a metal-insulator transition can trigger a large resistance change. Resistive switching from an insulating into a metallic phase, which typically occurs by the formation of conducting filaments parallel to the current flow, has been an active research topic. Here we present the discovery of an opposite, metal-to-insulator switching that proceeds via nucleation and growth of an insulating barrier perpendicular to the driving current. The barrier formation leads to an unusual N-type negative differential resistance in the current-voltage characteristics. Electrically inducing a transverse barrier enables a novel approach to voltage-controlled magnetism. By triggering a metal-to-insulator resistive switching in a magnetic material, local on/off control of ferromagnetism can be achieved by a global voltage bias applied to the whole device.