Abstract
The VO2 thin films with sharp metal–insulator transition (MIT) were epitaxially grown on (001)-oriented Yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates (YSZ) using radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering techniques. The MIT and structural phase transition (SPT) were comprehensively investigated under in situ temperature conditions. The amplitude of MIT is in the order of magnitude of 104, and critical temperature is 342 K during the heating cycle. It is interesting that both electron concentration and mobility are changed by two orders of magnitude across the MIT. This research is distinctively different from previous studies, which found that the electron concentration solely contributes to the amplitude of the MIT, although the electron mobility does not. Analysis of the SPT showed that the (010)-VO2/(001)-YSZ epitaxial thin film presents a special multi-domain structure, which is probably due to the symmetry matching and lattice mismatch between the VO2 and YSZ substrate. The VO2 film experiences the SPT from the M1 phase at low temperature to a rutile phase at a high temperature. Moreover, the SPT occurs at the same critical temperature as that of the MIT. This work may shed light on a new MIT behavior and may potentially pave the way for preparing high-quality VO2 thin films on cost-effective YSZ substrates for photoelectronic applications.
Highlights
Vanadium dioxide (VO2 ), which is a typical strongly correlated transition metal oxide, exhibits a first-order metal–insulator transition (MIT) [1,2], which is usually accompanied by a structural phase transition (SPT) from a low-temperature monoclinic semiconductor to a high-temperature rutile metal with a hysteresis of a few kelvins [3]
The pure M1 VO2 thin films were successfully grown on the (001)-Yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates (YSZ) substrate using an RF magnetron sputtering technique
Of the MIT in the VO2/YSZ thin films is in the order of magnitude of 104, while the MIT temperature
Summary
Vanadium dioxide (VO2 ), which is a typical strongly correlated transition metal oxide, exhibits a first-order metal–insulator transition (MIT) [1,2], which is usually accompanied by a structural phase transition (SPT) from a low-temperature monoclinic semiconductor to a high-temperature rutile metal with a hysteresis of a few kelvins [3]. VO2 has the advantages of both reversible and sharp electronic resistivity and optical transmittance changes in the vicinity of MIT (~340 K, near room temperature), which happens in response to different external stimuli, including photons, temperature, electric field, magnetic field, electrical chemistry, and stress [4,5,6,7]. Due to these properties, VO2 can be potentially used as a material in numerous applications in electronic and optical devices, such as memory devices [4], Mott field effect transistors [5], thermochromic smart windows [6], and so on. Yang et al observed the anisotropic MIT in the selected (110)-oriented
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