Preparation and modification of VO_2 thin film on R-sapphire substrate by rapid thermal process

The VO2 thin film with high performance of metal-insulator transition （MIT） is prepared on R-sapphire substrate for the first time by magnetron sputtering with rapid thermal process （RTP）. The electrical characteristic and THz transmittance of MIT in VO2 film are studied by four-point probe method and THz time domain spectrum （THz-TDS）. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, and search engine marketing （SEM） are employed to analyze the crystalline structure, valence state, surface morphology of the film. Results indicate that the properties of VO2 film which is oxidized from the metal vanadium film in oxygen atmosphere are improved with a follow- up RTP modification in nitrogen atmosphere. The crystallization and components of VO2 film are improved and the film becomes compact and uniform. A better phase transition performance is shown that the resistance changes nearly 3 orders of magnitude with a 2-~C hysteresis width and the THz transmittances are reduced by 64% and 60% in thermal and optical excitation respectively.     

Fabrication of VO_2 thin film by rapid thermal annealing in oxygen atmosphere and its metal–insulator phase transition properties

Vanadium dioxide thin films have been fabricated through sputtering vanadium thin films and rapid thermal annealing in oxygen. The microstructure and the metal–insulator transition properties of the vanadium dioxide thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and a spectrometer. It is found that the preferred orientation of the vanadium dioxide changes from(1ˉ11) to(011) with increasing thickness of the vanadium thin film after rapid thermal annealing. The vanadium dioxide thin films exhibit an obvious metal–insulator transition with increasing temperature, and the phase transition temperature decreases as the film thickness increases. The transition shows hysteretic behaviors, and the hysteresis width decreases as the film thickness increases due to the higher concentration carriers resulted from the uncompleted lattice. The fabrication of vanadium dioxide thin films with higher concentration carriers will facilitate the nature study of the metal–insulator transition.