Thin Films of Nanocrystalline Vanadium Dioxide: Modification of the Properties, and Electrical Switching

Abstract

Vanadium oxide films have been fabricated by the acetylacetonate and triethoxy vanadyl sol-gel methods on silicon substrates, as well as by magnetron sputtering on glass-ceramic substrates. Additional annealing in reducing atmosphere results in formation of vanadium dioxide or mixed phases with a VO2 predominance. The obtained films demonstrate the metal-insulator transition and electrical switching. In the films produced from triethoxy vanadyl, the peculiarities of electrical properties are related to the size effect, heterophase character of vanadium oxide films, and different types of charge carriers in the bulk of nanocrystallites and on their surfaces. Also, the effect of doping with hydrogen by means of plasma-immersion ion implantation on the properties of vanadium dioxide is explored. It is shown that the transition parameters in VO2 thin films depend on the hydrogen implantation dose. At doses exceeding a certain threshold value, the films are metallized, and the phase transition no longer occurs.