Nanoimaging of Electrical Failure in VO2 Resistive-Switching Nanodevices

Pushing the limits of electronics to higher performance has always been constrained by fatigue and failure of the constituting devices. For high-speed resistive-switching components, this problem is particularly important. Here, we used complementary nanoimaging techniques to explore electrical damage in a resistive-switching material VO2. The revealed mechanisms of electrical damage include surface melting, coalescence of material into droplets, and ablation. This three-stage scenario is likely to be found in other correlated oxides and more broadly in the general class of resistive-switching systems. We suggest strategies for preventing the electrical failure of devices in resistive-switching technology.