Electric field-induced disorder–order transition in organic polycrystalline films of quasi-one-dimensional lead-phthalocyanine

Experimental results are given on stable and reproducible voltage–current controlled bistable electrical switching in thin PbPc-films between an insulating off- and a metallic on-state with memory behaviour, differing by ten orders of magnitude in the electrical resistivity. Consistent with all structural and electronic properties the electrical switching is based on an electric field induced structural disorder–order transition, which is described by means of a phenomenological Landau-type theory.