Positive-bias gate-controlled metal–insulator transition in ultrathin VO2 channels with TiO2 gate dielectrics

The next generation of electronics is likely to incorporate various functional materials, including those exhibiting ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism and metal-insulator transitions. Metal-insulator transitions can be controlled by electron doping, and so incorporating such a material in transistor channels will enable us to significantly modulate transistor current. However, such gate-controlled metal-insulator transitions have been challenging because of the limited number of electrons accumulated by gate dielectrics, or possible electrochemical reaction in ionic liquid gate. Here we achieve a positive-bias gate-controlled metal-insulator transition near the transition temperature. A significant number of electrons were accumulated via a high-permittivity TiO2 gate dielectric with subnanometre equivalent oxide thickness in the inverse-Schottky-gate geometry. An abrupt transition in the VO2 channel is further exploited, leading to a significant current modulation far beyond the capacitive coupling. This solid-state operation enables us to discuss the electrostatic mechanism as well as the collective nature of gate-controlled metal-insulator transitions, paving the pathway for developing functional field effect transistors.