Understanding the pathways and time scales underlying electrically driven insulator-metal transitions is crucial for uncovering the fundamental limits of device operation. Using stroboscopic electron diffraction, we perform synchronized time-resolved measurements of atomic motions and electronic transport in operating vanadium dioxide (VO₂) switches. We discover an electrically triggered, isostructural state that forms transiently on microsecond time scales, which is shown by phase-field simulations to be stabilized by local heterogeneities and interfacial interactions between the equilibrium phases. This metastable phase is similar to that formed under photoexcitation within picoseconds, suggesting a universal transformation pathway. Our results establish electrical excitation as a route for uncovering nonequilibrium and metastable phases in correlated materials, opening avenues for engineering dynamical behavior in nanoelectronics.

了解电驱动绝缘体-金属转变的路径和时间尺度对于揭示设备操作的基本限制至关重要。使用频闪电子衍射，我们对操作二氧化钒 (VO ₂) 开关。我们发现了一种电触发的同构状态，它在微秒时间尺度上瞬时形成，相场模拟表明，这种状态通过局部异质性和平衡相之间的界面相互作用而稳定。这种亚稳相类似于在皮秒内在光激发下形成的相，表明是一种通用的转化途径。我们的研究结果确立了电激发作为揭示相关材料中非平衡和亚稳态相的途径，为纳米电子学中的工程动力学行为开辟了道路。