The tetragonal-like to rutile structural phase transition in epitaxial VO sub(2)/TiO sub(2)(001) thick films

A controllable metal-insulator transition (MIT) of VO sub(2) has been highly desired due to its huge potential applications in memory storage, smart windows or optical switching devices. Recently, interfacial strain engineering has been recognized as an effective approach to tuning the MIT of epitax...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of physics 2015-11, Vol.17
Main Authors: Qiu, Hongbo, Yang, Memgmeng, Dong, Yongqi, Xu, Han, Hong, Bin, Gu, Yueliang, Yang, Yuanjun, Zou, Chongwen, Luo, Zhenlin, Gao, Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Devices
Epitaxy
Phase transformations
Rutile
Strain
Thick films
Titanium dioxide
Vanadium oxides
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A controllable metal-insulator transition (MIT) of VO sub(2) has been highly desired due to its huge potential applications in memory storage, smart windows or optical switching devices. Recently, interfacial strain engineering has been recognized as an effective approach to tuning the MIT of epitaxial VO sub(2) films. However, the strain-involved structural evolution during the MIT process is still not clear, which prevents comprehensively understanding and utilizing interfacial strain engineering in VO sub(2) films. In this work, we have systematically studied the epitaxial VO sub(2) thick films grown on TiO sub(2) (001) single crystal substrate and the structural transition at the boundary of MIT region. By using in situ temperature-dependent high-resolution x-ray diffractions, a tetragonal-like ('T-like') to 'rutile' structural phase transition is identified during the MIT process. The room-temperature crystal phase of epitaxial VO sub(2)/TiO sub(2)(001) thick film is clarified to be tetragonal-like, neither strained-rutile phase nor monoclinic phase. The calculated atomic structure of this T-like phase VO sub(2) resembles that of the M1 phase VO sub(2), which has been verified by their similar Raman spectra. More, the crystal lattices of the coexisted phases in the MIT region were revealed in detail. The current findings will not only show some clues on the MIT mechanism study from the structural point of view, but also favor the interface engineering assisted VO sub(2)-based devices and applications in the future.
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113016