电场诱导二氧化钒绝缘-金属相变的研究进展

二氧化钒(VO_2)是电子强关联体系的典型代表,其晶体结构在特定阈值的温度、电场、光照和压力等物理场作用下会发生由单斜金红石结构向四方金红石结构的可逆转变,从而引发绝缘-金属相变.其中,电场诱导VO_2绝缘-金属相变后的电导率可提高2-5个数量级,在可重构缝隙天线、太赫兹辐射以及智能电磁防护材料等领域具有广阔的应用前景,成为近年来人们的研究热点.首先,简要概述了VO_2发生绝缘-金属相变时晶体结构和能带结构的变化,进而从电场诱导VO_2绝缘-金属相变的研究方法、响应时间、临界阈值场强调控以及相变机理几个方面系统总结和评述了近年来国内外学者在该领域的重要发现和研究进展.最后,指出了当前VO_2绝缘-金属相变研究存在的问题,并展望了未来的发展方向.     

Si掺杂HfO_2薄膜的铁电和反铁电性质

通过改变Si掺杂量制备出了具有显著铁电和反铁电特征的HfO2纳米薄膜,对其电滞回线、电容-电压和漏电流-电压特性以及物相温度稳定性进行了对比研究.反铁电薄膜的介电系数大于铁电薄膜,在电场加载和减载过程中发生的可逆反铁电-铁电相变导致了双电滞回线的出现,在室温至185℃的测试温度范围内未出现反铁电→顺电相变.在电流-电压特性测量时观察到的负微分电阻效应归因于极化弛豫等慢响应机理的贡献.     

Verwey相变处Fe3O4的结构、磁性和电输运特性

作为典型的金属–绝缘体转变,Fe3O4的Verwey相变蕴涵的丰富物理现象与微观机制,因而受到了人们的广泛关注.在Verwey相变处,Fe3O4的晶体结构、电子结构以及磁各向异性等均发生转变,但其磁基态并未发生改变.与其他强关联体系相比,Fe3O4的Verwey相变不需要考虑磁交换耦合作用的变化,有利于揭示强关联体系中金属–绝缘体转变的物理本质.本文从晶体结构、电荷有序、电输运特性、磁性和铁电特性等方面简要地介绍了Fe3O4的Verwey相变的研究历史和现状.     

VO2金属-绝缘体相变机理的研究进展

VO₂是一种热致相变金属氧化物. 在341 K附近, VO₂发生由低温绝缘体相到高温金属相的可逆转变, 同时伴随着光学、电学和磁学等性质的可逆突变, 这种独特的性质使得VO₂在光电开关材料、智能玻璃、存储介质材料等领域有着广阔的应用前景. 因此, VO₂金属-绝缘体可逆相变一直是人们的研究热点, 但其相变机理至今未有定论. 首先, 简要概述了VO₂相变时晶体结构和能带结构的变化情况: 从晶体结构来讲, 相变前后VO₂从低温时的单斜相VO₂(M)转变为高温稳定的金红石相VO₂(R), 在一定条件下此过程也可能伴随着亚稳态单斜相VO₂(B)与四方相VO₂(A)的产生; 从能带结构来看, VO₂处于低温单斜相时, 其d_//能带和π^*能带之间存在一个禁带, 带宽约为0.7 eV, 费米能级恰好落在禁带之间, 表现出绝缘性, 而在高温金红石相时, 其费米能级落在π^*能带与d_//能带之间的重叠部分, 因此表现出金属导电性. 其次, 着重总结了VO₂相变物理机理的研究现状. 主要包括: 电子关联驱动相变、结构驱动相变以及电子关联和结构共同驱动相变的3种理论体系以及支撑这些理论体系的实验结果. 文献报道争论的焦点在于, VO₂是否是Mott绝缘体以及结构相变与MIT相变是否精确同时发生. 最后, 展望了VO₂材料研究的发展方向.     

Bi_2Sr_2CuO_y晶体中电子局域化

测量了不同Bi_2Sr_2CuO_y晶体ab平面内的电阻率-温度变化关系.发现在体系从金属到绝缘体的变化过程中,电子导电首先表现出低温下的二维弱局域化行为,然后逐渐过渡到强局域化的变程跳跃传导行为.依据实验结果对氧化物超导材料在低载流子浓度下的金属—绝缘体转变进行了讨论. 关键词：     

硅基二氧化钒相变薄膜电学特性研究

本文以原子层沉积超薄氧化铝(Al₂ O₃)为过渡层, 采用射频反应磁控溅射法在硅半导体基片上制备了颗粒致密并具有(011)择优取向的二氧化钒(VO₂)薄膜. 该薄膜具有显著的绝缘体–金属相变特性, 相变电阻变化超过3 个数量级, 热滞回线宽度约为6℃. 基于VO₂薄膜构建了平面二端器件并测试了不同温度下I-V曲线, 观测到超过2个数量级的电流跃迁幅度, 显示了优越的电致相变特性. 室温下电致相变阈值电压为8.6 V, 电致相变弛豫电压宽度约0.1 V. 随着温度升高到60℃, 其电致相变所需要的阈值电压减小到2.7 V. 本实验制备的VO₂薄膜在光电存储、开关、太赫兹调控器件中具有广泛的应用价值.     

低补偿度n-Hg1-xCdxTe的磁致金属-绝缘体相变和相变后的温度激活输运行为

报道了ｘ＝０．２１４组份、低补偿度（Ｋ《１）ｎ－Ｈｇ_1-xＣｄ_xＴｅ晶体在０．３─３０Ｋ温度范围，０─７Ｔ强磁场下的横向磁阻、电子霍耳迁移率、霍耳系数测量结果，观测到了磁致金属－绝缘体相变和相变后的温度激活输运行为。分析实验数据，提出：低补偿度、组份：ｘ＝０．２附近的ｎ－Ｈｇ_1-xＣｄ_xＴｅ，磁致金属－绝缘体相变（ＭＩＴ）发生的机理是载流子在浅施主杂质态上的磁冻结；发生磁冻结的前提是热冻出（ｔｈｅｒｍａｌ ｆｒｅｅｚｅ 关键词：     

完全由电子关联驱动的Mott型金属-绝缘体相变研究

Mott金属-绝缘体相变(MIT)是凝聚态物理中的一个非常基本的概念.长期以来,Mott型MIT的概念被广泛应用于凝聚态物理的许多领域,特别是用于描述强关联系统的电子结构特征.然而到目前为止,完全由电子关联驱动的MIT并没有被观察到.因此,是否存在着完全由于电子之间的强关联效应导致的Mott型MIT一直是科学家们感兴趣的重要问题.近日,中国科学院物理研究所方忠研究员组、郭建东研究员组和美国Florida International大学的Jiandi Zhang教授研究组及美国Tennessee大学及橡树岭国家实验室的E.W.Plummer教授研究组、Rong Ying Jin教授研究组合作,通过实验与理论相结合的研究,在Ca1.9Sr0.1RuO4表面首次实现了纯电子驱动的Mott型MIT,发生电子结构相变时并没有相应的结构畸变出现.该研究成果对于人们认识电子-电子关联效应引起的Mott转变具有非常重要的意义.     

金属Pt薄膜上二氧化钒的制备及其电致相变性能研究

通过引入SiO₂氧化物缓冲层, 在金属Pt电极上利用射频磁控溅射技术成功制备出高质量的VO₂薄膜. 详细研究了SiO₂厚度对VO₂薄膜的晶体结构、微观形貌和绝缘体–金属相变(MIT)性能的影响. 结果表明厚度0.2 μm以上的SiO₂缓冲层能够有效 消除VO₂薄膜与金属薄膜之间的巨大应力, 制备出具有明显相变特性的VO₂薄膜. 当缓冲层达到0.7 μm以上, 获得的薄膜具有明显的(011)晶面择优取向, 表面平整致密, 相变前后电阻率变化达到3个数量级以上. 基于该技术制备了Pt-SiO₂/VO₂-Au三明治结构, 通过在垂直膜面方向施加很小的驱动电压, 观察到明显的阶梯电流跳跃, 证实实现了电致绝缘体–金属相变过程. 该薄膜制备工艺简单, 性能稳定, 器件结构灵活可应用于集成式电控功能器件. 关键词： 二氧化钒薄膜 相变特性 电致相变 阈值电压     

低补偿度n－Hg＿（1－x）Cd＿xTe的磁致金属－绝缘体相变和相变后的温度激活输运行为

报道了ｘ＝０．２１４组份、低补偿度（Ｋ《１）ｎ－Ｈｇ＿（１－ｘ）Ｃｄ＿ｘＴｅ晶体在０．３─３０Ｋ温度范围，０─７Ｔ强磁场下的横向磁阻、电子霍耳迁移率、霍耳系数测量结果，观测到了磁致金属－绝缘体相变和相变后的温度激活输运行为。分析实验数据，提出：低补偿度、组份：ｘ＝０．２附近的ｎ－Ｈｇ＿（１－ｘ）Ｃｄ＿ｘＴｅ，磁致金属－绝缘体相变（ＭＩＴ）发生的机理是载流子在浅施主杂质态上的磁冻结；发生磁冻结的前提是热冻出（ｔｈｅｒｍａｌｆｒｅｅｚｅ－ｏｕｔ），即首先必须在很低的温度下将导带电子冻出到施主态上。相变后的温度激活输运行为可以表示成Ｒ＿Ｈ（Ｔ）＝Ｒ＿（Ｈ０）ｅｘｐ［ａ／ｋＴ］，它实际上反映了磁冻结在施主上的电子，随温度的升高，逐步热激发到导带的过程，从磁致ＭＩＴ后的激活能初步推知，导带下存在两个浅施主能级。     

用于红外激光防护的高开关率VO2薄膜

采用反应离子束溅射和后退火处理技术在石英玻璃基底上制备了具有纳米粒子的二氧化钒(VO₂)薄膜. 该薄膜具有半导体-金属相变特性,在3 μm处的开关率达到76.6%。 热致相变实验结果给出了准确的最佳退火温度为465 ℃. 仿真、热致相变和光致相变实验都显示VO₂薄膜在红外波段具有很高的光学开关特性. 光电池防护实验结果显示VO₂薄膜将硅光电池的抗干扰能力提升了2.6倍, 证明了VO₂在激光防护中的适用性. 采用连续可调节系统研究得到VO₂在室温条件下的相变阈值功率密度为4.35 W/cm², 损伤阈值功率密度为404 W/cm²。 低相变阈值和高损伤阈值都进一步证明VO₂薄膜适用于激光防护系统。本实验制备的VO₂薄膜在光开关、光电存储器、智能窗等方面也具有广泛的应用价值.     

Probing thermal properties of vanadium dioxide thin films by time-domain thermoreflectance without metal film

Vanadium dioxide(VO_2) is a strongly correlated material, and it has become known due to its sharp metal–insulator transition(MIT) near room temperature. Understanding the thermal properties and their change across MIT of VO_2 thin film is important for the applications of this material in various devices. Here, the changes in thermal conductivity of epitaxial and polycrystalline VO_2 thin film across MIT are probed by the time-domain thermoreflectance(TDTR) method.The measurements are performed in a direct way devoid of deposition of any metal thermoreflectance layer on the VO_2 film to attenuate the impact from extra thermal interfaces. It is demonstrated that the method is feasible for the VO_2 films with thickness values larger than 100 nm and beyond the phase transition region. The observed reasonable thermal conductivity change rates across MIT of VO_2 thin films with different crystal qualities are found to be correlated with the electrical conductivity change rate, which is different from the reported behavior of single crystal VO_2 nanowires. The recovery of the relationship between thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity in VO_2 film may be attributed to the increasing elastic electron scattering weight, caused by the defects in the film. This work demonstrates the possibility and limitation of investigating the thermal properties of VO_2 thin films by the TDTR method without depositing any metal thermoreflectance layer.     

VO_2薄膜Vis-NIR及NIR-MIR椭圆偏振光谱分析

采用射频磁控溅射在石英玻璃基底上反应溅射制备单斜相(M相)VO_2薄膜.利用V-VASE和IR-VASE椭圆偏振仪及变温附件分别在0.5—3.5 eV(350—2500 nm)和0.083—0.87 eV(1400—15000 nm)入射光能量范围内对相变前后的VO_2薄膜进行光谱测试,运用逐点拟合的方式,并通过薄膜的吸收峰的特征,在0.5—3.5 eV范围内添加3个Lorentz谐振子色散模型和0.083—0.87 eV范围内添加4个Gaussion振子模型对低温态半导体态的薄膜椭偏参数进行拟合,再对高温金属态的薄膜添加7个Lorentz谐振子色散模型对进行椭偏参数的拟合,得到了较为理想的拟合结果.结果发现:半导体态的VO_2薄膜的折射率在近红外-中红外基本保持在最大值3.27不变,且消光系数k在此波段接近于零,这是由于半导体态薄膜在可见光-近红外光范围内的吸收主要是自由载流子吸收,而半导体态薄膜的d//轨道内的电子态密度较小.高温金属态的VO_2薄膜的折射率n在近红外-中红外波段具有明显的增大趋势,且在入射光能量为0.45 eV时大于半导体态的折射率;消光系数k在近红外波段迅速增大,原因是在0.5—1.62 eV范围内,能带内的自由载流子浓度增加及电子在V_(3d)能带内发生带内的跃迁吸收,使k值迅速增加;当能量小于0.5 eV时k值变化平缓,是由于薄膜内自由载流子浓度和电子跃迁率趋于稳定所致.     

Manipulating metal-insulator transitions of VO2 films via embedding Ag nanonet arrays

Manipulating metal-insulator transitions in strongly correlated materials is of great importance in condensed matter physics, with implications for both fundamental science and technology. Vanadium dioxide (VO₂), as an ideal model system, is metallic at high temperatures and shown a typical metal-insulator structural phase transition at 341 K from rutile structure to monoclinic structure. This behavior has been absorbed tons of attention for years. However, how to control this phase transition is still challenging and little studied. Here we demonstrated that to control the Ag nanonet arrays (NAs) in monoclinic VO₂(M) could be effective to adjust this metal-insulator transition. With the increase of Ag NAs volume fraction by reducing the template spheres size, the transition temperature (T_c) decreased from 68° to 51°. The mechanism of T_c decrease was revealed as:the carrier density increases through the increase of Ag NAs volume fraction, and more free electrons injected into the VO₂ films induced greater absorption energy at the internal nanometal-semiconductor junction. These results supply a new strategy to control the metal-insulator transitions in VO₂, which must be instructive for the other strongly correlated materials and important for applications.     

Dual-function terahertz metasurface based on vanadium dioxide and graphene

A dual-function terahertz metasurface based on VO₂ and graphene is proposed in this paper. It consists of a gold layer embedded with VO₂ patches, a SiO₂ spacer layer, a VO₂ layer, graphene and a SiO₂ spacer substrate. When the bottom VO₂ layer is in the metallic state, the designed metasurface can achieve absorption. When the top VO₂ patches are in the metallic state, the proposed metasurface can be used as a single-band absorber with terahertz absorptance of 99.7% at 0.736 THz. When the top VO₂ patches are in the insulating state, the designed structure behaves as a dual-band absorber with an absorptance of 98.9% at 0.894 THz and 99.9% at 1.408 THz. In addition, the absorber is polarization insensitive and keeps good performance at large angles of incidence. When the bottom VO₂ is in an insulating state, the metasurface shows electromagnetically induced transparency. The transparent window can be dynamically regulated by controlling the chemical potential of graphene. The proposed metasurface exhibits the advantages of terahertz absorption, electromagnetically induced transparency and dynamic control, which provides more options for the design of terahertz devices in the future.     

Structural changes in RNiO3 perovskites (R=rare earth) across the metal–insulator transition

Rare earth nickel oxide perovskites (RNiO₃, R=rare earth) have, except for LaNiO₃, a metal–insulator (MI) phase transition as temperature decreases. The transition temperature (T_MI) increases as the R-ion becomes smaller. They also present, at low temperatures, a complex antiferromagnetic order. For lighter R-ions (e.g. Pr and Nd), the antiferromagnetic transition temperature (T_N) is close to T_MI, while for heavier R-ions (e.g. Eu, Sm), T_MI and T_N are very far apart, suggesting that the magnetic and electronic behaviors are not directly coupled. Even though Ni³⁺ is a Jahn–Teller ion, no distortion in the NiO₆ octahedra was found for RNiO₃ perovskites with R=Pr, Nd, Sm and Eu. In this work we have measured EXAFS at Ni K edge for samples of PrNiO₃, NdNiO₃ and EuNiO₃. The Fourier transform spectra for the three samples show a clear splitting in the first peak at the insulating phase. This splitting corresponds to two or more different Ni–O distances. This indicates that there is either a distortion in the NiO₆ octahedra or there are two different Ni sites at the insulating phase.     

Electrical and structural properties of VO2 in an electric field

We examined the electrical and local structural properties of a VO₂ film at different electric fields using electrical resistance and x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements at the V K edge in the temperature range of 30–100 °C. The T_c value of the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) during both heating and cooling decreases with electric field. When the electric field exceeds a certain value, the MIT becomes sharper due to Joule heating. The MIT, the structural phase transition (SPT), and the pre-edge peak transition of the VO₂ do not congruently occur at a uniform temperature. A metallic VO₂ is observed in only the rutile (or M2) symmetry. An electric field induces a substantial amount of conduction electrons in insulating VO₂. Simultaneously measured resistance and XAFS reveal that Joule heating caused by an external electric field significantly affects the MIT and SPT of VO₂.