Structural and electrical properties of high-performance vanadium dioxide thin layers obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering

Epitaxial vanadium dioxide (VO2) films exhibiting an abrupt metal-insulator transition with resistivity ratios of five orders of magnitude have been grown on (001)-oriented sapphire substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of deposition and annealing temperature on the structure and morphology of the layers are discussed as well as their impact on the films' electrical properties. Thus, the VO2 layers obtained using the optimal experimental conditions have electrical resistivity ratios over 10(5) and can be obtained on substrates as large as three-inch in diameter. The combination of the scalability of magnetron sputtering and the high quality of the films enables the large-scale industrial applications of high quality VO(2 )layers.

Automated summary

Epitaxial vanadium dioxide (VO2) films with large resistivity ratios have been grown on sapphire substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. The structure and morphology of the films are influenced by deposition and annealing temperature, and these factors also affect the electrical properties of the films. VO2 films with high resistivity ratios can be obtained under optimal experimental conditions and are scalable for large-scale industrial applications.