Observation of transient aspects of self-sustained oscillations and the role of parallel capacitance in VO2-based planar devices

Self-sustained electrical oscillations (SEOs) in VO2 films have attracted considerable attention owing to their potential to emulate spiking pulses in neuromorphic circuits. However, triggering stable SEOs and the controlling oscillation frequency remain challenging because the details of circuit operation with VO2-based devices are not yet well understood. In this study, we propose a method to observe SEOs stably in a VO2-based planar device with Au/Ti facing electrodes by introducing a 50 Hz sinusoidal voltage from a curve tracer. The transient aspects, including the onset and collapse of the SEO, were captured, providing clarity on the oscillation frequency range and circuit conditions for the SEOs, which are closely correlated with the device temperature. It became clear that the parallel capacitance not only determined the oscillation frequency but also controlled the current through VO2 just after the insulator–metal transition of VO2, playing a role in triggering stable oscillations. We also successfully observed the transient aspects from in-phase to anti-phase synchronized oscillations in the coupled oscillations. This study advances the experimental procedures and applications of SEOs in VO2-based planar devices.