DC and pulse voltage-induced metal-insulator transition (MIT) in epitaxial VO2 two terminal devices were measured at various stage temperatures. The power needed to switch the device to the ON-state decrease linearly with increasing stage temperature, which can be explained by the Joule heating effect. During transient voltage induced MIT measurement, the incubation time varied across 6 orders of magnitude. Both DC I-V characteristic and incubation times calculated from the electrothermal simulations show good agreement with measured values, indicating Joule heating effect is the cause of MIT with no evidence of electronic effects. The width of the metallic filament in the ON-state of the device was extracted and simulated within the thermal model.

Bi-stable volatile switching devices are being used as access devices in solid-state memory arrays and as the active part of compact oscillators. Such structures exhibit two stable states of resistance and switch between them at a critical value of voltage or current. A typical resistance transient under a constant amplitude voltage pulse starts with a slow decrease followed by a rapid drop and leveling off at a low steady state value. This behavior prompted the interpretation of initial delay and fast transition as due to two different processes. Here, we show that the entire transient including incubation time, transition time, and the final resistance values in TaOx-based switching can be explained by one process, namely, Joule heating with the rapid transition due to the thermal runaway. The time, which is required for the device in the conducting state to relax back to the stable high resistance one, is also consistent with the proposed mechanism.

Transport characteristics of TiN/Ta/TaOx/TiN resistive-switching crossbar devices with amorphous TaOx functional layer have been investigated at cryogenic temperatures. Quasi-DC I-V characteristics at 10 K show a negative differential resistance region followed by a rapid transition to the non-volatile formed state. Accounting for Joule heating, the device temperature at the point of switching was estimated at 150 K. Measurements of transient resistance at low stage temperatures revealed an abrupt drop of resistance delayed by a characteristic incubation time after the leading edge of the voltage pulse. The incubation time was a strong function of applied voltage but did not depend on temperature between 10 K and 100 K. This implies a very low activation energy of the threshold switching process at low temperatures. Both of these observations argue against the involvement of oxygen vacancy motion at the onset of the forming process.

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