Electrically Induced Nonthermal Memristive Switching in V2O3/Si Thin Film

Mott-insulator-to-metal transitions under an applied electric field are currently the subject of numerous fundamental and applied studies. Exploring the electronic parameters contributing to the external control of conductivity of correlated systems like ${\mathrm{V}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ is an indispensable requirement for next-generation Mottronic devices. Here, we demonstrate a resistive-switching (RS) phenomenon, i.e., a flip from the high-resistance state (HRS) to the low-resistance state in a ${\mathrm{V}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ thin film grown on $\mathrm{Si}$ (001) substrate by applying a dc voltage as external perturbation. The RS effect is explained in connection with the electronic structure by overcoming the electronic correlations and, in the HRS, the ${\mathrm{V}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}/\mathrm{Si}$ film is realized to lie in the intermediate regime between the Mott-Hubbard and charge-transfer insulating states. Interestingly, our study reveals an electrically induced nonthermal RS effect in the ${\mathrm{V}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}/\mathrm{Si}$ film in terms of different energetics like on-site Coulomb repulsion (U) and charge-transfer energy (\ensuremath{\Delta}), which regulate the exotic properties of this metal oxide and its functionality.