Voltage Control of Metal-insulator Transition and Non-volatile Ferroelastic Switching of Resistance in VO(x)/PMN-PT Heterostructures

The central challenge in realizing electronics based on strongly correlated electronic states, or ‘Mottronics', lies in finding an energy efficient way to switch between the distinct collective phases with a control voltage in a reversible and reproducible manner. In this work, we demonstrate that a voltage-impulse-induced ferroelastic domain switching in the (011)-oriented 0.71Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)-0.29PbTiO(3) (PMN-PT) substrates allows a robust non-volatile tuning of the metal-insulator transition in the VO(x) films deposited onto them. In such a VO(x)/PMN-PT heterostructure, the unique two-step electric polarization switching covers up to 90% of the entire poled area and contributes to a homogeneous in-plane anisotropic biaxial strain, which, in turn, enables the lattice changes and results in the suppression of metal-insulator transition in the mechanically coupled VO(x) films by 6 K with a resistance change up to 40% over a broad range of temperature. These findings provide a framework for realizing in situ and non-volatile tuning of strain-sensitive order parameters in strongly correlated materials, and demonstrate great potentials in delivering reconfigurable, compactable, and energy-efficient electronic devices.