Switchable domains in point contacts based on transition metal tellurides

We report resistive switching in voltage biased point contacts (PCs) based on the van der Waals transition metal tellurides (TMTs) $Me{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ ($Me=\mathrm{Mo},\mathrm{W}$) and $\mathrm{Ta}Me{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ $(Me=\mathrm{Ru},\mathrm{Rh},\mathrm{Ir})$. The switching occurs between a low resistive ``metallic-type'' state, which is the ground state, and a high resistive ``semiconducting-type'' state by applying a certain bias voltage $(l1\mathrm{V})$. The reverse switching takes place by applying voltage of opposite polarity. The origin of the effect can be attributed to the formation of domains with different crystal structure in the PC core due to a strong electric field $(g10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{kV}/\mathrm{cm})$. The new functionality of the studied TMT materials, which emerges from switchable domains in submicron heterostructures, is very promising, e.g., for nonvolatile resistive random access memory engineering.