Showing papers by "Hans Hilgenkamp published in 2023"
12 Mar 2023
TL;DR: In this article , the authors used near-field optical microscopy (NOMA) to study the memory behavior of vanadium dioxide memory devices at length scales raging from tens of nanometers up to tens of microns.
Abstract: Experimental insight in the nanoscale dynamics underlying switching in novel memristive devices is limited owing to the scarcity of techniques that can probe the electronic structure of these devices. Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy is a relatively novel approach to probe the optical response of materials with a spatial resolution well below the diffraction limit. We use this non-invasive tool to demonstrate that it provides detailed information on the origin and memory behaviour of ultra-thin films of vanadium dioxide. Simultaneously recorded $I(V)$ characteristics and near-field maps show that discontinuities in the I(V) characteristics arise from the sudden switching of insulating domains to metallic domains. At the threshold voltage, the domains form a continuous current path. The metallic domains persist once the bias voltage is removed, but narrow monoclinic regions appear around the domain boundaries. The key advantage of our approach is that it provides detailed information on the electronic structure at length scales raging from tens of nanometers up to tens of microns and is easily applied under \textit{in operando} conditions.
09 May 2023
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors show that by incorporating multiple parallel VO2 bridges in a single two-terminal device, a wider range of possible characteristics can be obtained, including a manifold of addressable resistance states.
Abstract: Vanadium dioxide (VO2) exhibits a hysteretic insulator-to-metal transition near room temperature, forming the foundation for various forms of resistive switching devices. Usually, these are realized in the form of two-terminal bridge-like structures. We show here that by incorporating multiple, parallel VO2 bridges in a single two-terminal device, a wider range of possible characteristics can be obtained, including a manifold of addressable resistance states. Different device configurations are studied, in which the number of bridges, the bridge dimensions and the interbridge distances are varied. The switching characteristics of the multibridge devices are influenced by the thermal crosstalk between the bridges. Scanning Thermal Microscopy has been used to image the current distributions at various voltage/current bias conditions. This work presents a route to realize devices exhibiting highly non-linear, multistate current-voltage characteristics, with potential applications in e.g., tunable electronic components and novel, neuromorphic information processing circuitry.
TL;DR: In this paper , a thermal microscopy (SThM) probe is calibrated using heater-thermometer metal lines with different widths (50 nm to 750 nm), which mimic variable probe-sample thermal exchange processes.
Abstract: Heat dissipation threatens the performance and lifetime of many electronic devices. As the size of devices shrinks to the nanoscale, we require spatially and thermally resolved thermometry to observe their fine thermal features. Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) has proven to be a versatile measurement tool for characterizing the temperature at the surface of devices with nanoscale resolution. SThM can obtain qualitative thermal maps of a device using an operating principle based on a heat exchange process between a thermo-sensitive probe and the sample surface. However, the quantification of these thermal features is one of the most challenging parts of this technique. Developing reliable calibration approaches for SThM is therefore an essential aspect to accurately determine the temperature at the surface of a sample or device. In this work, we calibrate a thermo-resistive SThM probe using heater-thermometer metal lines with different widths (50 nm to 750 nm), which mimic variable probe-sample thermal exchange processes. The sensitivity of the SThM probe when scanning the metal lines is also evaluated under different probe and line temperatures. Our results reveal that the calibration factor depends on the probe measuring conditions and on the size of the surface heating features. This approach is validated by mapping the temperature profile of a phase change electronic device. Our analysis provides new insights on how to convert the thermo-resistive SThM probe signal to the scanned device temperature more accurately.