Thermally Induced Switching of Electrical and Optical Characteristics of VO2 Thin Nanostructured Films Fabricated by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

• Published in: Arabian journal for science and engineering (2011) 2024, Vol.49 (1), p.1227-1236
• Main Authors: Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Dastageer, M. A., Ferry, D. B., Hawsawi, A. T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magnetron sputtering; multidisciplinary; Optical properties; Phase transitions; Research Article-Physics; Science; Switching; Thin films; Vanadium oxides; Vibration mode
• ISSN: 2193-567X; 1319-8025; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-023-08290-x

Thin films of VO 2 were deposited using magnetron sputtering, and abrupt switching of the optical and electrical characteristics due to phase transformation was studied. At a temperature of 58 °C, the as-prepared VO 2 films transformed from the insulator to a metallic phase, at a temperature lower than the values reported in the literature. This transformation corresponds to the switching from monoclinic to rutile tetragonal phase, where the electron number density is suddenly increased as a result of V–V dimer dissociation, and this phase transformation is found to be absent in annealed VO 2 films. Above 58 °C, the optical absorption of as-prepared VO 2 films in the metallic phase was found to be quite anomalous in infrared region due to plasmonic resonance. This phase transformation is reflected in the FTIR spectrum as relative dominance of the vibrational modes. Also, the structural and morphological characterizations of the fabricated VO 2 thin films were investigated.