arXiv subjects

Marcelo Rozenberg

Publications and source records attributed to Marcelo Rozenberg.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Disorder-driven stochastic dynamics in Mott resistive-switching systems

Controlled disorder in correlated materials provides a new route to emergent stochastic dynamics in neuromorphic hardware. Here we show that focused ion beam irradiation in VO$_{2}$- and V$_{2}$O$_{3}$-based resistive-switching oscillators induces a transition from regular periodic oscillations to strongly irregular stochastic firing, while simultaneously reducing the required switching energy by orders of magnitude. Under an applied electric field, these materials undergo a volatile insulator-to-metal transition characterized by the formation of percolating metallic filaments within an insulating bulk. Using numerical simulations based on the Mott resistor network, we demonstrate that defect-induced modifications to filament nucleation and stability drive these devices into stochastic oscillatory regimes. These results are validated by experimental measurements on irradiated VO$_{2}$ and V$_{2}$O$_{3}$ devices.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Electrically induced negative differential resistance states mediated by oxygen octahedra coupling in manganites for neuronaldynamics

The precipitous rise of consumer network applications reiterates the urgency to redefine computing hardware with low power footprint. Neuromorphic computing utilizing correlated oxides offers an energy-efficient solution. By designing anisotropic functional properties in LSMO on a twinned LAO substrate and driving it out of thermodynamic equilibrium, we demonstrate two distinct negative differential resistance states in such volatile memristors. These were harnessed to exhibit oscillatory dynamics in LSMO at different frequencies and an artificial neuron with leaky integrate-and-fire dynamics. A material based modelling incorporating bond angle distortions in neighboring perovskites and capturing the inhomogeneity of domain distribution and propagation explains both the NDR regimes. Our findings establish LSMO as an important material for neuromorphic computing hardware.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Laser-induced quenching of metastability at the Mott-insulator to metal transition

There is growing interest in strongly correlated insulator thin films because the intricate interplay of their intrinsic and extrinsic state variables causes memristive behavior that might be used for bio-mimetic devices in the emerging field of neuromorphic computing. In this study we find that laser irradiation tends to drive V$_2$O$_3$ from supercooled/superheated metastable states towards thermodynamic equilibrium, most likely in a non-thermal way. We study thin films of the prototypical Mott-insulator V$_2$O$_3$, which show spontaneous phase separation into metal-insulator herringbone domains during the Mott transition. Here, we use low-temperature microscopy to investigate how these metal-insulator domains can be modified by scanning a focused laser beam across the thin film surface. We find that the response depends on the thermal history: When the thin film is heated from below the Mott transition temperature, the laser beam predominantly induces metallic domains. On the contrary, when the thin film is cooled from a temperature above the transition, the laser beam predominantly induces insulating domains. Very likely, the V$_2$O$_3$ thin film is in a superheated or supercooled state, respectively, during the first-order phase transition, and the perturbation by a laser beam drives these metastable states into stable ones. This way, the thermal history is locally erased. Our findings are supported by a phenomenological model with a laser-induced lowering of the energy barrier between the metastable and equilibrium states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Magnetoresistance anomaly during the electrical triggering of a metal-insulator transition

Phase separation naturally occurs in a variety of magnetic materials and it often has a major impact on both electric and magnetotransport properties. In resistive switching systems, phase separation can be created on demand by inducing local switching, which provides an opportunity to tune the electronic and magnetic state of the device by applying voltage. Here we explore the magnetotransport properties in the ferromagnetic oxide (La,Sr)MnO3 (LSMO) during the electrical triggering of an intrinsic metal-insulator transition (MIT) that produces volatile resistive switching. This switching occurs in a characteristic spatial pattern, i.e., the formation of an insulating barrier perpendicular to the current flow, enabling an electrically actuated ferromagnetic-paramagnetic-ferromagnetic phase separation. At the threshold voltage of the MIT triggering, both anisotropic and colossal magnetoresistances exhibit anomalies including a large increase in magnitude and a sign flip. Computational analysis revealed that these anomalies originate from the coupling between the switching-induced phase separation state and the intrinsic magnetoresistance of LSMO. This work demonstrates that driving the MIT material into an out-of-equilibrium resistive switching state provides the means to electrically control of the magnetotransport phenomena.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Light induced decoupling of electronic and magnetic properties in manganites

The strongly correlated material La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) exhibits metal-to-insulator and magnetic transition near room temperature. Although the physical properties of LSMO can be manipulated by strain, chemical doping, temperature, or magnetic field, they often require large external stimuli. To include additional flexibility and tunability, we developed a hybrid optoelectronic heterostructure that uses photocarrier injection from cadmium sulfide (CdS) to an LSMO layer to change its electrical conductivity. LSMO exhibits no significant optical response, however, the CdS/LSMO heterostructures show an enhanced conductivity, with ~ 37 % resistance drop, at the transition temperature under light stimuli. This enhanced conductivity in response to light is comparable to the effect of a 9 T magnetic field in pure LSMO. Surprisingly, the optical and magnetic responses of CdS/LSMO heterostructures are decoupled and exhibit different effects when both stimuli are applied. This unexpected behavior shows that heterostructuring strongly correlated oxides may require a new understanding of the coupling of physical properties across the transitions and provide the means to implement new functionalities.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Evolution of the spectral lineshape at the magnetic transition in Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7

Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7 form two families of spin-orbit Mott insulators with quite different charge gaps and an antiferromagnetic (AF) ground state. This offers a unique opportunity to study the impact of long-range magnetic order in Mott insulators. It appears to play a different role in the two families, as there is almost no change of the resistivity at the magnetic transition TN in Sr2IrO4 and a large one in Sr3Ir2O7. We use angle-resolved photoemission to study the evolution of the spectral lineshape through the magnetic transition. We use Ru and La substitutions to tune TN and discriminate changes due to temperature from those due to magnetic order. We evidence a shift and a transfer of spectral weight in the gap at TN in Sr3Ir2O7, which is absent in Sr2IrO4. We assign this behavior to a significantly larger coherent contribution to the spectral lineshape in Sr3Ir2O7, which evolves strongly at TN. On the contrary, the Sr2IrO4 lineshape is dominated by the incoherent part, which is insensitive to TN. We compare these findings to theoretical expections of the Slater vs Mott antiferromagnetism within Dynamical Mean Field Theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Quantum materials for energy-efficient neuromorphic computing

Neuromorphic computing approaches become increasingly important as we address future needs for efficiently processing massive amounts of data. The unique attributes of quantum materials can help address these needs by enabling new energy-efficient device concepts that implement neuromorphic ideas at the hardware level. In particular, strong correlations give rise to highly non-linear responses, such as conductive phase transitions that can be harnessed for short and long-term plasticity. Similarly, magnetization dynamics are strongly non-linear and can be utilized for data classification. This paper discusses select examples of these approaches, and provides a perspective for the current opportunities and challenges for assembling quantum-material-based devices for neuromorphic functionalities into larger emergent complex network systems.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2020

Direct observation of the electrically triggered Insulator-Metal transition in V3O5 far below the transition temperature

Resistive switching is one of the key phenomena for applications such as nonvolatile memories or neuromorphic computing. V3O5, a compound of the vanadium oxide Magnéli series, is one of the rare materials to exhibit an insulator-metal transition (IMT) above room temperature (Tc ~ 415 K). Here we demonstrate both static dc resistive switching (RS) and fast oscillatory spiking regimes in V3O5 devices at room temperature (120 K below the phase transition temperature) by applying an electric field. We use operando optical imaging to track a reflectivity change during the RS and find that a percolating high temperature metallic phase filament is formed. This demonstrates that the electrically induced RS triggers the phase transition. Furthermore, we optically capture the spiking oscillations that we link to the negative differential resistance regime and find the filament forms and dissolves via a periodic spatio-temporal instability that we describe by numerical simulations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

A hybrid optoelectronic Mott insulator

The coupling of electronic degrees of freedom in materials to create hybridized functionalities is a holy grail of modern condensed matter physics that may produce novel mechanisms of control. Correlated electron systems often exhibit coupled degrees of freedom with a high degree of tunability which sometimes lead to hybridized functionalities based on external stimuli. However, the mechanisms of tunability and the sensitivity to external stimuli are determined by intrinsic material properties which are not always controllable. A Mott metal-insulator transition, which is technologically attractive due to the large changes in resistance, can be tuned by doping, strain, electric fields, and orbital occupancy but cannot be, in and of itself, controlled externally with light. Here we present a new approach to produce hybridized functionalities using a properly engineered photoconductor/strongly-correlated hybrid heterostructure, showing control of the Metal-to-Insulator transition (MIT) using optical means. This approach combines a photoconductor, which does not exhibit an MIT, with a strongly correlated oxide, which is not photoconducting. Due to the close proximity between the two materials, the heterostructure exhibits large volatile and nonvolatile, photoinduced resistivity changes and substantial photoinduced shifts in the MIT transition temperatures. This approach can potentially be extended to other judiciously chosen combinations of strongly correlated materials with systems which exhibit optically, electrically or magnetically controllable behavior.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

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

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.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Non-Thermal Resistive Switching in Mott Insulators

Resistive switching can be achieved in a Mott insulator by applying current/voltage, which triggers an insulator-metal transition (IMT). This phenomenon is key for understanding IMT physics and developing novel memory elements and brain-inspired technology. Despite this, the roles of electric field and Joule heating in the switching process remain controversial. We resolve this issue by studying nanowires of two archetypical Mott insulators - VO2 and V2O3. Our findings show a crossover between two qualitatively different regimes. In one, the IMT is driven by Joule heating to the transition temperature, while in the other, field-assisted carrier generation gives rise to a doping driven IMT which is purely non-thermal. By identifying the key material properties governing these phenomena, we propose a universal mechanism for resistive switching in Mott insulators. This understanding enabled us to control the switching mechanism using focused ion-beam irradiation, thereby facilitating an electrically driven non-thermal IMT. The energy consumption associated with the non-thermal IMT is extremely low, rivaling that of state of the art electronics and biological neurons. These findings pave the way towards highly energy-efficient applications of Mott insulators.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Relaxation of a Mott-neuron

We consider the phenomenon of electric Mott transition (EMT), which is an electric induced insulator to metal transition. Experimentally, it is observed that depending on the magnitude of the electric excitation the final state may show a short lived or a long lived resistance change. We extend a previous model for the EMT to include the effect of local structural distortions through an elastic energy term. We find that by strong electric pulsing the induced metastable phase may become further stabilized by the electro-elastic effect. We present a systematic study of the model by numerical simulations and compare the results to new experiments in Mott insulators of the AM4Q8 family. Our work significantly extends the scope of our recently introduced leaky-integrate-and-fire Mott-neuron [P. Stoliar Adv Mat 2017] to bring new insight on the physical mechanism of its relaxation. This is a key feature for future neuromorphic circuit implementations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Shock-waves and commutation speed of memristors

Progress of silicon based technology is nearing its physical limit, as minimum feature size of components is reaching a mere 10 nm. The resistive switching behaviour of transition metal oxides and the associated memristor device is emerging as a competitive technology for next generation electronics. Significant progress has already been made in the past decade and devices are beginning to hit the market; however, it has been mainly the result of empirical trial and error. Hence, gaining theoretical insight is of essence. In the present work we report the striking result of a connection between the resistive switching and {\em shock wave} formation, a classic topic of non-linear dynamics. We argue that the profile of oxygen vacancies that migrate during the commutation forms a shock wave that propagates through a highly resistive region of the device. We validate the scenario by means of model simulations and experiments in a manganese-oxide based memristor device. The shock wave scenario brings unprecedented physical insight and enables to rationalize the process of oxygen-vacancy-driven resistive change with direct implications for a key technological aspect -- the commutation speed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Resistive switching phenomena in TiOx nanoparticle layers for memory applications

Electrical characteristics of a Co/TiO_x/Co resistive memory device, fabricated by two different methods are reported. In addition to crystalline TiO_2 layers fabricated via conventional atomic layer deposition (ALD), an alternative method has been examined, where TiO_x nanoparticle layers were fabricated via sol-gel. The different devices have shown different hysteresis loops with a unique crossing point for the sol-gel devices. A simple qualitative model is introduced to describe the different current-voltage behaviours by suggesting only one active metal-oxide interface for the ALD devices and two active metal-oxide interfaces for the sol-gel devices. Furthermore, we show that the resistive switching behaviour could be easily tuned by proper interface engineering and that despite having a similar active material, different fabrication methods can lead to dissimilar resistive switching properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Universal electric-field-driven resistive transition in narrow-gap Mott insulators

One of today's most exciting research frontier and challenge in condensed matter physics is known as Mottronics, whose goal is to incorporate strong correlation effects into the realm of electronics. In fact, taming the Mott insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), which is driven by strong electronic correlation effects, holds the promise of a commutation speed set by a quantum transition, and with negligible power dissipation. In this context, one possible route to control the Mott transition is to electrostatically dope the systems using strong dielectrics, in FET-like devices. Another possibility is through resistive switching, that is, to induce the insulator-to-metal transition by strong electric pulsing. This action brings the correlated system far from equilibrium, rendering the exact treatment of the problem a difficult challenge. Here, we show that existing theoretical predictions of the off-equilibrium manybody problem err by orders of magnitudes, when compared to experiments that we performed on three prototypical narrow gap Mott systems V2-xCrxO3, NiS2-xSex and GaTa4Se8, and which also demonstrate a striking universality of this Mott resistive transition (MRT). We then introduce and numerically study a model based on key theoretically known physical features of the Mott phenomenon in the Hubbard model. We find that our model predictions are in very good agreement with the observed universal MRT and with a non-trivial timedelay electric pulsing experiment, which we also report. Our study demonstrates that the MRT can be associated to a dynamically directed avalanche.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Resistive switching induced by electronic avalanche breakdown in GaTa$_4$Se$_{8-x}$Te$_x$ narrow gap Mott Insulators

Mott transitions induced by strong electric fields are receiving a growing interest. Recent theoretical proposals have focused on the Zener dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators, however experimental studies are still too scarce to conclude about the mechanism. Here we report a study of the dielectric breakdown in the narrow gap Mott insulators GaTa$_4$Se$_{8-x}$Te$_x$. We find that the I-V characteristics and the magnitude of the threshold electric field (E$_{th}$) do not correspond to a Zener breakdown, but rather to an avalanche breakdown. E$_{th}$ increases as a power law of the Mott Hubbard gap (E$_g$), in surprising agreement with the universal law E$_{th}$ $\propto$E$_g$$^{2.5}$ reported for avalanche breakdown in semiconductors. However, the delay time for the avalanche that we observe in Mott insulators is over three orders of magnitude longer than in conventional semiconductors. Our results suggest that the electric field induces local insulator-to-metal Mott transitions that create conductive domains which grow to form filamentary paths across the sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1994

Critical Properties of the Mott Transition in the Hubbard Model

We introduce a systematic low-energy approach to strongly correlated electron systems in infinite dimensions, and apply it to the problem of the correlation-induced metal-insulator transition in the half-filled Hubbard model. We determine the low-energy scaling functions of the metallic state, including the single-particle Green function and dynamical spin susceptibility, as well as thermodynamic properties and relate them to experimental data in transition metal oxides.

cond-mat↗