Electron-beam modification and electrical property recovery dynamics of vanadium dioxide films in semiconducting and metallic phases

Abstract

In this paper we investigate electron-beam modification and the process of subsequent recovery of phase transition parameters of VO2-based films within 20–100 °C temperature range. It is shown that the level of electron-beam modification, i.e., resistance change value, is by an order of magnitude higher in VO2 metallic phase compared with the semiconducting one. The time of parameter recovery in air also changes at phase transition (less than a minute for the metallic phase and more than an hour for the semiconducting one), while within each phase the temperature dependence of modification rate and recovery is negligible. The physics of the phenomena is explained by peculiarities of the processes of oxygen vacancies generation and recombination in both phases. The regularities of electron-beam modification influence on the electrical switching effect are established; particularly, the threshold voltage of switching device is found to decrease under the action of modification.