Manipulating the insulator-metal transition through tip-induced hydrogenation.
Nat Mater
; 21(11): 1246-1251, 2022 Nov.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36175522
ABSTRACT
Manipulating the insulator-metal transition in strongly correlated materials has attracted a broad range of research activity due to its promising applications in, for example, memories, electrochromic windows and optical modulators1,2. Electric-field-controlled hydrogenation using ionic liquids3-6 and solid electrolytes7-9 is a useful strategy to obtain the insulator-metal transition with corresponding electron filling, but faces technical challenges for miniaturization due to the complicated device architecture. Here we demonstrate reversible electric-field control of nanoscale hydrogenation into VO2 with a tunable insulator-metal transition using a scanning probe. The Pt-coated probe serves as an efficient catalyst to split hydrogen molecules, while the positive-biased voltage accelerates hydrogen ions between the tip and sample surface to facilitate their incorporation, leading to non-volatile transformation from insulating VO2 into conducting HxVO2. Remarkably, a negative-biased voltage triggers dehydrogenation to restore the insulating VO2. This work demonstrates a local and reversible electric-field-controlled insulator-metal transition through hydrogen evolution and presents a versatile pathway to exploit multiple functional devices at the nanoscale.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Mater
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIA
/
QUIMICA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China