Synthesis and study of electrical and magnetic properties of vanadium oxide micro and nanosized rods grown using pulsed laser deposition technique

Vanadium oxide micro and nanosized rods were grown using pulsed laser deposition technique under different oxygen pressures. X-ray diffractogram shows a predominant mixture of vanadium dioxide, VO(2) and Magneli phase, V(3)O(7). The diameters of the rods were found to increase from 300 nm to 2.3 mu m with increase in oxygen pressure from 0.1 mbar to 0.5 mbar as seen from high resolution scanning electron microscope images. Raman spectra of the rods show peaks at all the characteristic vibrations corresponding to that of VO(x) phase. The 0.5 mbar oxygen deposited sample shows a semiconducting behavior from 300 to 77 K and is paramagnetic down to 5 K. Using versatile pulsed laser deposition we have established the tunability of the dimensions of VO(x) nanorods which can find numerous potential applications in electrochemistry, catalysis, etc. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.