Switching the state of matter

Researchers at the Riken Advanced Science Institute have created a new transistor that may help bring innovative solutions into our daily lives. This device uses the electrostatic accumulation of charge on the surface of a strongly-correlated vanadium dioxide material to trigger bulk switching of electronic state. Functional at room temperature and triggered by a potential of only 1 V, the switching mechanism provides a novel building block for ultra-low-power devices, non-volatile memory and optical switches based on a new device concept. The new switching mechanism takes this first discovery to a new level, demonstrating that a very small electric potential is enough to control macroscopic electronic states and offers a new route to controlling the state of matter.