We introduce a model that accounts for the bipolar resistive switching phenomenom observed in transition metal oxides. It qualitatively describes the electric field-enhanced migration of oxygen vacancies at the nano-scale. The numerical study of the model predicts that strong electric fields develop in the highly resistive dielectric-electrode interfaces, leading to a spatially inhomogeneous oxygen vacancies distribution and a concomitant resistive switching effect. The theoretical results qualitatively reproduce non-trivial resistance hysteresis experiments that we also report, providing key validation to our model.

The nature of the Mott transition in the absence of any symmetry breaking remains a matter of debate. We study the correlation-driven insulator-to-metal transition in the prototypical 3D Mott system GaTa(4)Se(8), as a function of temperature and applied pressure. We report novel experiments on single crystals, which demonstrate that the transition is of first order and follows from the coexistence of two states, one insulating and one metallic, that we toggle with a small bias current. We provide support for our findings by contrasting the experimental data with calculations that combine local density approximation with dynamical mean-field theory, which are in very good agreement.

We report on DC and pulsed electric field sensitivity of the resistance of mixed valent Mn oxide based La 5/8−y PryCa0.375MnO3 (y∼0.4) single crystals as a function of temperature. The low temperature regime of the resistivity is highly current and voltage dependent. An irreversible transition from high (HR) to a low resistivity (LR) is obtained upon the increase of the electric field up to a temperature dependent critical value (Vc). The current-voltage characteristics in the LR regime as well as the lack of a variation in the magnetization response when Vc is reached indicate the formation of a non-single connected filamentary conducting path. The temperature dependence of Vc indicates the existence of a consolute point where the conducting and insulating phases produce a critical behavior as a consequence of their separation.

The resistive switching (RS) properties as a function of temperature were studied for Ag/La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$CoO$_3$ (LSCO) interfaces. The LSCO is a fully-relaxed 100 nm film grown by metal organic deposition on a LaAlO$_3$ substrate. Both low and a high resistance states were set at room temperature and the temperature dependence of their current-voltage (IV) characteristics was mea- sured taking care to avoid a significant change of the resistance state. The obtained non-trivial IV curves of each state were well reproduced by a circuit model which includes a Poole-Frenkel element and two ohmic resistances. A microscopic description of the changes produced by the RS is given, which enables to envision a picture of the interface as an area where conductive and insulating phases are mixed, producing Maxwell-Wagner contributions to the dielectric properties.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, to be published in APL. Corresponding author: C. Acha (acha@df.uba.ar

Current-voltage (IV) characteristics and the temperature dependence of the contact resistance [R(T )] of Au / YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ (optimally doped YBCO) interfaces have been studied at different resistance states. These states were produced by resistive switching after accumulating cyclic electrical pulses of increasing number and voltage amplitude. The IV characteristics and the R(T ) dependence of the different states are consistent with a Poole-Frenkel (P-F) emission mechanism with trapping-energy levels E t in the 0.06-0.11 eV range. E t remains constant up to a number-of-pulsesdependent critical voltage and increases linearly with further increasing the voltage amplitude of the pulses. The observation of a P-F mechanism reveals the existence of an oxygen-depleted layer of YBCO near the interface. A simple electrical transport scenario is discussed, where the degree of disorder, the trap energy level and the temperature range determine an electrical conduction dominated by non-linear effects, either in a P-F emission or in a variable-range hopping regime.

The development of novel devices for neuromorphic computing and non-traditional logic operations largely relies on the fabrication of well controlled memristive systems with functionalities beyond standard bipolar behavior and digital ON-OFF states. In the present work we demonstrate for Ta O-based devices that it is possible to selectively activate/deactivate two series memristive interfaces in order to obtain clockwise or counterclockwise multilevel squared remanent resistance loops, just by controlling both the electroforming process and the (a)symmetry of the applied stimuli, and independently of the nature of the used metallic electrodes. Based on our thorough characterization, analysis and modeling, we show that the physical origin of this electrical behavior relies on controlled oxygen vacancies electromigration between three different nanoscopic zones of the active Ta 2 O 5−x layer: a central one and two quasi-symmetric interfaces with reduced TaO 2−h(y) layers. Our devices fabrication process is rather simple as it implies the room temperature deposition of only one CMOS compatible oxide-Ta-oxide-and one metal, suggesting that it might be possible to take advantage of these properties at low cost and with easy scability. The tunable opposite remanent resistance loops circulations with multiple-analogic-intermediate stable states allows mimicking the adaptable synaptic weight of biological systems and presents potential for non-standard logic devices.

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We have measured the pressure sensitivity of Tc in fluorinated HgBa2Ca2Cu3O 8+δ (Hg-1223) ceramic samples with different F contents, applying pressures up to 30 GPa. We obtained that Tc increases with increasing pressure, reaching different maximum values, depending on the F doping level, and decreases for a further increase of pressure. A new high Tc record (166 K ± 1 K) was achieved by applying pressure (23 GPa) in a fluorinated Hg-1223 sample near the optimum doping level. Our results show that all our samples are at the optimal doping, and that fluorine incorporation decreases the crystallographic a-parameter concomitantly increasing the maximum attainable Tc. This effect reveals that the compression of the a axes is one of the keys that controls the Tc of high temperature superconductors.