Room Temperature Low-Energy Resistive Switching in Flux-Grown Quasi-1D Chalcogenide BaTiS₃

Low energy switching in the form of either volatile or non-volatile is critical in achieving energy efficient computing. Asymmetric resistive switching between two different phases or states are typically achieved by phase transitions such as metal-to-insulator transitions, but the energy consumption to overcome the barrier is usually substantial. On the other hand, resistive switching between bistable states such as ferroelectric switching is much more energy efficient. BaTiS₃ is a ‘ferroelectric-like’ semiconductor that features large Ti out-of-plane displacements at room temperature like BaTiO₃ and is promising in demonstrating such bistable switching. Here, we show the non-volatile resistive switching over one order of magnitude achieved below 0.5 V from a bulk BaTiS₃ device with the channel size ~ 100 µm in plane, and the status can be reset via a reverse scan. The scaling of the switching voltage with respect to channel sizes is also discussed. Our study identifies BaTiS₃as a unique ferroelectric semiconducting system that achieves low energy resistive switching at room temperature.