Dynamics of the electrically induced insulator-to-metal transition in rare-earth nickelates

Rare-earth nickelates feature an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) that can be electrically triggered. We study the dynamics of this electrically induced transition by comparing the time-dependent transport properties of two distinct members of the ReNiO3 family: NdNiO3 and SmNiO3. We report stark differences in the nucleation and growth of the metallic phase, which evolve more rapidly for NdNiO3. With the aid of simulations, we identify the amplitude of the resistivity change across the IMT as the key parameter controlling the switching speed. Our results are in accordance with recent experiments in the VOx family, contributing to a unified vision of the field-induced IMT dynamics across different families of correlated oxides.