Resistive Switching as Nonequilibrium Phase Transition

We investigate the quantum mechanical origin of resistive phase transitions in solids driven by a constant electric field in the vicinity of a metal-insulator transition. We perform a nonequilibrium mean-field analysis of a driven-dissipative symmetry-broken insulator, which we solve analytically for the most part. We find that the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) and the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) proceed by two distinct electronic mechanisms: Landau-Zener processes and the destabilization of the metallic state by Joule heating, respectively. Our analytic approach enables us to formulate testable predictions on the nonanalytic behavior of I -V relation near the insulator-to-metal transition. Building on these successes, we propose an effective Ginzburg-Landau theory which paves the way to incorporating spatial fluctuations and to bringing the theory closer to a realistic description of the resistive switchings in correlated materials.

We acknowledge financial support form National Science Foundation with Grant No. DMR-1733071.