Field-Induced Reversible Phase Manipulation in Metal-Insulator Transition using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Reversible electronic switching between insulating and metallic phases is a novel idea that may allow new types of field effect devices feasible.$^{1}$ Here we demonstrate the reversible manipulation between metallic and insulating phases in two-dimensional In nanowire arrays on Si(111) surface near the metal-insulator transition temperature ($T_{c})$. The electronic switching of phases was induced by local electric field applied by the probe tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The field-dependent hysteresis behavior was also observed in tip height measurements as a function of the sample bias, under the constraint of constant tunneling current. A model including the intrinsic bi-stability of the nanometer-scale domains of In nanowire arrays will be discussed. $^{1}$C. Ahn, J. Triscone, J. Mannhart, \textit{Nature }6952, 1015 (2003)