Time-resolved resistive switching on manganite surfaces: Creep and 1/f(alpha) a noise signatures indicate pinning of nanoscale domains

We performed time-resolved nanoscale studies on the resistive switching of perovskite manganite thin films by means of conductive atomic force microscopy. Creep and recovery features have been observed in the evolution of metallic domains via pulse-train experiments and current map sequences. Local I (t) curves show 1/f(alpha) noise signatures during the switching process, a phenomenon which occurs in various physical processes consisting of discrete jumps of different sizes, such as the Barkhausen effect. Our results imply that the resistive switching falls into this universal class of effects with dynamics determined by the pinning and depinning of structural domain walls.