Tunable Phase Transitions and Resistive Switching in Engineered Mott Insulators
Yoav Kalcheim
Technion Abstract
In Mott insulators electrical currents can change resistance by orders-of-magnitude due to an insulator-metal
phase transition. The volatility and stochasticity of switching in Mott insulators enables various kinds of unique
applications. In this talk I will present our recent advances in defect- and strain- engineering of Mott insulators and
devices thereof. I will first discuss how defects induced by ion irradiation in V 2 O 3  and VO 2  devices can induce a non-thermal insulator-metal transition when current is driven through these materials and how this allows to define
the real-space trajectory of the phase transition. I will also show the ability to non-thermally induce either the
metallic or insulating phase in the hysteresis regime of V 2 O 3 using light. I will then discuss strain engineering in
V 2 O 3  which allows to tune the trajectory of the phase transition, allowing access to hitherto inaccessible regions of the phase diagram. These unusual states of matter hold great promise for resistive switching applications, both in
terms of energy efficiency and functionality. Lastly, I will discuss our most recent muon spin rotation study which
reveals magnetic precursors to the coupled structural and electronic transitions in V 2 O 3 .

Acknoledgments:
Acknowledgments: This work is supported by the Israel Science Foundation - grant no. 1031/21, the European
Research Council - grant no. 2031928 and Binational Science Foundation - grant no. 2020337.