Hydrogen-Associated Filling-Controlled Mottronics Within Thermodynamically Metastable Vanadium Dioxide.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Solid-State Chemistry

Background:

• Hydrogen-associated phase modulations in correlated oxides offer pathways to exotic electronic states.
• Metastable Vanadium Dioxide (B) (VO2(B)) presents unique opportunities for exploring hydrogen-induced phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate hydrogen-induced Mott phase transitions in metastable VO2(B).
• To investigate the potential of these hydrogenated phases for protonic device applications.
• To explore new electronic states and resistive switching properties in metastable VO2(B).

Main Methods:

• Introducing non-equilibrium conditions to achieve hydrogenated phases in VO2(B).
• Utilizing theoretical calculations and synchrotron radiation analysis.
• Investigating ion-electron-lattice coupling and structural evolution.

Main Results:

• Achieved highly robust and reversible hydrogenated phases in metastable VO2(B).
• Demonstrated superior resistive switching ratios (10^2-10^5) compared to VO2(M1).
• Identified band-filling-controlled orbital reconfiguration as the primary driver of phase modulation.

Conclusions:

• Metastable VO2(B) overcomes thermodynamic restrictions, expanding electronic structure adjustability.
• Hydrogen-induced phase modulation in VO2(B) is driven by strong ion-electron-lattice coupling.
• This work provides a new tuning knob for electron-correlated systems, enabling the design of novel electronic states.