Enhancing the Resistive Memory Window through Band Gap Tuning in Solid Solution (CrV)O.

Memories based on the insulator-to-metal transition in correlated insulators are promising to overcome the limitations of alternative nonvolatile memory technologies. However, associated performances have been demonstrated so far only on narrow-gap compounds, such as (VCr)O, exhibiting a tight memory window. In the present study, V-substituted CrO compounds (CrV)O have been synthesized and widely investigated in thin films, single crystals, and polycrystalline powders, for the whole range of chemical composition (0 < < 1).

Composites between Perovskite and Layered Co-Based Oxides for Modification of the Thermoelectric Efficiency.

The common approach to modify the thermoelectric activity of oxides is based on the concept of selective metal substitution. Herein, we demonstrate an alternative approach based on the formation of multiphase composites, at which the individual components have distinctions in the electric and thermal conductivities. The proof-of-concept includes the formation of multiphase composites between well-defined thermoelectric Co-based oxides: Ni, Fe co-substituted perovskite, LaCoNiFeO (LCO), and misfit layered CaCoO.

Solvothermal and mechanochemical intercalation of Cu into LaOS enabled by the redox reactivity of (S) pairs.

Intercalation of Cu into layered polychalcogenide LaOS was demonstrated to be viable both under solvothermal conditions at 200 °C and mechanical ball milling at ambient temperature. This result evidences the soft-chemical nature of metal intercalation into layered polychalcogenides driven by the redox reactivity of anion-anion bonds.

Design of metastable oxychalcogenide phases by topochemical (de)intercalation of sulfur in LaOS.

Designing and synthesising new metastable compounds is a major challenge of today's material science. While exploration of metastable oxides has seen decades-long advancement thanks to the topochemical deintercalation of oxygen as recently spotlighted with the discovery of nickelate superconductor, such unique synthetic pathway has not yet been found for chalcogenide compounds. Here we combine an original soft chemistry approach, structure prediction calculations and advanced electron microscopy techniques to demonstrate the topochemical deintercalation/reintercalation of sulfur in a layered oxychalcogenide leading to the design of novel metastable phases.

Unexplored reactivity of (S) oligomers with transition metals in low-temperature solid-state reactions.

We demonstrate here the low temperature topochemical insertion of transition elements (Fe, Ni, and Cu) in precursors containing pre-formed (Sn)2- (n = 2 and 3) oligomers. Indeed, this soft chemistry route opens the door to the easy, orientated synthesis of low dimensional transition metal compounds provided that the elemental metal can retrocede electron(s) to empty antibonding sulfur σ* levels.

A Topochemical Approach to Synthesize Layered Materials Based on the Redox Reactivity of Anionic Chalcogen Dimers.

Layered transition metal compounds represent a major playground to explore unconventional electric or magnetic properties. In that framework, topochemical approaches that mostly preserve the topology of layered reactants have been intensively investigated to tune properties and/or design new materials. Topochemical reactions often involve the insertion or deinsertion of a chemical element accompanied by a change of oxidation state of the cations only.

Ba2F2Fe(1.5)Se3: An Intergrowth Compound Containing Iron Selenide Layers.

The iron selenide compound Ba2F2Fe(1.5)Se3 was synthesized by a high-temperature ceramic method. The single-crystal X-ray structure determination revealed a layered-like structure built on [Ba2F2](2+) layers of the fluorite type and iron selenide layers [Fe(1.

Orbital-ordering-driven multiferroicity and magnetoelectric coupling in GeV₄S₈.

We report here the discovery of multiferroicity and large magnetoelectric coupling in the type I orbital order system GeV₄S₈. Our study demonstrates that this clustered compound displays a para-ferroelectric transition at 32 K. This transition originates from an orbital ordering which reorganizes the charge within the transition metal clusters.

Resistive switching at the nanoscale in the Mott insulator compound GaTa4Se8.

We study the Mott insulator compound GaTa4Se8 in which we previously discovered an electric-field-induced resistive transition. We show that the resistive switching is associated to the appearance of metallic and super-insulating nanodomains by means of scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS). Moreover, we show that local electronic transitions can be controlled at the nanoscale at room temperature using the electric field of the STM tip.

Universal electric-field-driven resistive transition in narrow-gap Mott insulators.

A striking universality in the electric-field-driven resistive switching is shown in three prototypical narrow-gap Mott systems. This model, based on key theoretical features of the Mott phenomenon, reproduces the general behavior of this resistive switching and demonstrates that it can be associated with a dynamically directed avalanche. This model predicts non-trivial accumulation and relaxation times that are verified experimentally.

Half-metallic ferromagnetism and large negative magnetoresistance in the new lacunar spinel GaTi3VS8.

The lacunar spinel compounds GaTi(4-x)V(x)S(8) (0 < x < 4), consisting of Ti(4-x)V(x) tetrahedral clusters, were prepared and their structures were determined by powder X-ray diffraction. The electronic structures of GaTi(4-x)V(x)S(8) (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) were examined by density functional calculations, and the electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility of these compounds were measured. Our calculations predict that GaTi(3)VS(8) is a ferromagnetic half-metal, and this prediction was confirmed by magnetotransport experiments performed on polycrystalline samples of GaTi(3)VS(8).

Electric-Pulse-driven Electronic Phase Separation, Insulator-Metal Transition, and Possible Superconductivity in a Mott Insulator.

Experimental evidence of a nonvolatile electric-pulse-induced insulator-to-metal transition and possible superconductivity in the Mott insulator GaTa4 Se8 is reported. Scanning tunneling microscopy experiments show that this unconventional response of the system to short electric pulses arises from a nanometer-scale electronic phase separation generated in the bulk material.

Structure and magnetic properties of oxychalcogenides A2F2Fe2OQ2 (A = Sr, Ba; Q = S, Se) with Fe2O square planar layers representing an antiferromagnetic checkerboard spin lattice.

The oxychalcogenides A2F2Fe2OQ2 (A = Sr, Ba; Q = S, Se), which contain Fe2O square planar layers of the anti-CuO2 type, were predicted using a modular assembly of layered secondary building units and subsequently synthesized. The physical properties of these compounds were characterized using magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, specific heat, (57)Fe Mossbauer, and powder neutron diffraction measurements and also by estimating their exchange interactions on the basis of first-principles density functional theory electronic structure calculations. These compounds are magnetic semiconductors that undergo a long-range antiferromagnetic ordering below 83.