High-electric-field behavior of the metal-insulator transition in TiS3 nanowire transistors

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in TiS3 nanowire field-effect transistors, in the strongly nonequilibrium limit that has, thus far, largely been neglected. Under high electric fields within the TiS3 channel (≤115 kV/cm), we observe the emergence of a critical fixed point, separating insulating and metallic regions in the transfer curves of the device. The critical gate voltage that defines this fixed point evolves systematically with the drain bias (field), allowing us to map out a phase diagram that identifies the conditions for metallicity or for insulating behavior. Dependent upon the choice of the gate voltage used to tune the carrier concentration in the nanowire, the existence of the field-induced MIT allows the TiS3 to be either insulating or metallic over an extensive range of temperature. The possible connection of this strongly nonequilibrium state to some form of charge density wave is discussed.