Memory effect of photoinduced conductivity switching controlled by pulsed voltages in a molecular conductor

Abstract

Transient photoresponses of the electrical conductivity in single crystals of an organic conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 are studied in the charge-ordered insulating phase. Electrical conductivity switching is observed in the presence of pulsed voltages and synchronous irradiation of nanosecond laser pulse. Current in the photoirradiated crystal as a function of applied voltages shows a bistability in a certain range of voltage. For the initial triggering of the conductivity switching, not only pulsed voltages but also photoirradiation is necessary. A high conductivity state produced by the switching can be repeatedly recovered by applying the pulsed voltages without further photoirradiation even after the current has been reduced to zero. This observation indicates a memory effect of the photoinduced conductivity switching. The appearance of the memory effect depends on the temporal width of the pulsed voltages, which are applied at a rate of approximately 8 Hz. In the measurement using short pulse widths, the memory effect is not observed. This controllability of the memory effect with the pulse width is related to the bistability of the current with respect to the photoirradiation intensity. The shape of the hysteresis loop appearing in the current versus photoirradiation intensity curve can be varied by changing the pulse width.