Electrically Driven Structural Phase Transition in Single Ag₂Te Nanowire Devices

Exploring new phase–change materials are instrumental in the progression of electronic memory devices. Ag₂Te with its reversible structural phase transition, and in the form of nanowires becomes an apt candidate to potentially use in nanoscale memory devices. Here we report a study on the temperature– or electrically–driven phase change properties of crystalline Ag₂Te nanowires. We first demonstrate that this structural phase change can be achieved via heating up the nanowires, which results in a sharp drop in conductance. Then we show that a DC voltage (< 1V) induced Joule heating can be used to reach the phase transition, even without any external heating. This work shows the potential of using Ag₂Te nanowires as a phase–change material in low voltage and low power nanoscale devices.