title: Current induced polycrystalline-to-crystalline transformation in vanadium dioxide nanowires.
abstract: Vanadium dioxide (VO2) exhibits a reversible insulator-metal phase transition that is of significant interest in energy-efficient nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices. In these applications, crystalline materials are usually preferred for their superior electrical transport characteristics as well as spatial homogeneity and low surface roughness over the device area for reduced scattering. Here, we show applied electrical currents can induce a permanent reconfiguration of polycrystalline VO2nanowires into crystalline nanowires, resulting in a dramatically reduced hysteresis across the phase transition and reduced resistivity. Low currents below 3 mA were sufficient to cause the local temperature in the VO2to reach about 1780 K to activate the irreversible polycrystalline-to-crystalline transformation. The crystallinity was confirmed by electron microscopy and diffraction analyses. This simple yet localized post-processing of insulator-metal phase transition materials may enable new methods of studying and fabricating nanoscale structures and devices formed from these materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Junho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joushaghani
authors.affiliation: Toronto Nanofabrication Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsukernik
authors.affiliation: Defence Research and Development Canada - Valcartier, Quebec, Quebec G3J 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paradis
authors.affiliation: Defence Research and Development Canada - Valcartier, Quebec, Quebec G3J 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alain
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Joyce K S
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Poon