Quantum Sensing of Insulator-to-Metal Transitions in a Mott Insulator

ORAL

Abstract

We studied the resistive switching properties of pristine and ion-irradiated VO2 thin film devices by performing optically detected diamond Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) electron spin resonance measurements. This switching behavior is of interest in the field of neuromorphic computing, in its potential application as an artificial neuron. Our measurements probe the local temperature and magnetic field in electrically biased VO2 devices, which agree global transport measurement results. In pristine devices, the electrically-driven IMT proceeds through Joule heating up to the transition temperature while in ion-irradiated devices, the transition occurs non-thermally, well below the transition temperature. This provides the first direct evidence for non-thermal electrically induced IMT in a Mott insulator, highlighting the significant opportunities offered by NV quantum sensors in exploring nanoscale thermal and electrical behaviors in Mott materials.

*N. J. M. and C. R. D. were supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U. S. National Science Foundation,. Y. K. and I. K. S. were supported by Q-MEEN-C, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences

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Presenters

  • Nathan McLaughlin

    • University of California, San Diego

Authors

  • Nathan McLaughlin

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Yoav Kalcheim

    • Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
    • Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
    • Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
    • Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
    • University of California, San Diego

  • Albert Suceava

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Hailong Wang

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Chunhui Du

    • Harvard University
    • University of California, San Diego

  • Ivan Schuller

    • University of California, San Diego
    • Dept. of Physics and Center for Advanced Nanoscience, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA
    • Physics Department, University of California, San Diego
    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego