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The electrical control of a material's conductivity is at the heart of modernelectronics. Conventionally, this control is achieved by tuning the density ofmobile charge carriers. A completely different approach is possible in Mottinsulators such as Ca$_2$RuO$_4$, where an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT)can be induced by a weak electric field or current. This phenomenon hasnumerous potential applications in, e.g., neuromorphic computing. While thedriving force of the IMT is poorly understood, it has been thought to be abreakdown of the Mott state. Using in operando angle-resolved photoemissionspectroscopy, we show that this is not the case: The current-driven conductivephase arises with only a minor reorganisation of the Mott state. This can beexplained by the co-existence of structurally different domains that emergeduring the IMT. Electronic structure calculations show that the boundariesbetween domains of slightly different structure lead to a drastic reduction ofthe overall gap. This permits an increased conductivity, despite the persistentpresence of the Mott state. This mechanism represents a paradigm shift in theunderstanding of IMTs, because it does not rely on the simultaneous presence ofa metallic and an insulating phase, but rather on the combined effect ofstructurally inhomogeneous Mott phases.

Current driven insulator-to-metal transition without Mott breakdown in Ca$_2$RuO$_4$