Bidirectional current triggering in planar devices based on serially connected VO_2 thin films using 965 nm laser diode

By incorporating a 965 nm laser diode, the bidirectional current triggering of up to 30 mA was demonstrated in a two-terminal planar device based on serially connected vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. The bidirectional current triggering was realized by using the focused beams of laser pulses through the photo-thermally induced phase transition of VO 2 . The transient responses of laser-triggered currents were also investigated when laser pulses excited the device at a variety of pulse widths and repetition rates of up to 4.0 Hz. A switching contrast between off- and on-state currents was obtained as ~8333, and rising and falling times were measured as ~39 and ~29 ms, respectively, for 50 ms laser pulses.