Dynamics of electroforming and electrically driven insulator-metal transition in NbOx selector

In this research, we investigate an electroforming and electrically driven insulator-metal transition (E-IMT) characteristic of the NbOx film that follows the framework of nucleation theory. First, we carry out the electroforming process to form the crystalline NbO2 phase, and it separated to nucleation and grain-growth according to external electric field degree. During the electroforming process, we also study the field-induced nucleation that occurred selectively according to the crystallinity of films. We conclude that the E-IMT process was the result of Peierls transition between the tetragonal and the rutile NbO2 phases, and we experimentally deduce the minimum energy pathway for transition.