Controlled disorder in correlated materials provides a new route to emergent stochastic dynamics in neuromorphic hardware. Here we show that focused ion beam irradiation in ${\text{VO}}_2$- and ${\mathrm{V}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$-based resistive-switching oscillators induces a transition from regular periodic oscillations to strongly irregular stochastic firing, while simultaneously reducing the required switching energy by orders of magnitude. Under an applied electric field, these materials undergo a volatile insulator-to-metal transition characterized by the formation of percolating metallic filaments within an insulating bulk. Using numerical simulations based on the Mott resistor network, we demonstrate that defect-induced modifications to filament nucleation and stability drive these devices into stochastic oscillatory regimes. These results are validated by experimental measurements on irradiated ${\text{VO}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{V}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$ devices.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Electrical conductivity
• Metal-insulator transition
• Percolation
• Resistive switching
• Disordered systems
• Mott insulators
• Stochastic dynamical systems
• Strongly correlated systems