Electrical conductivity of titanium dioxide layers doped with vanadium, cobalt, and niobium

• Published in: Russian microelectronics Vol. 41; no. 8; pp. 503 - 507
• Main Authors: Balagurov, L. A., Kulemanov, I. V., Orlov, A. F., Petrova, E. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01.12.2012
• Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Engineering; Titanium Dioxide Layer; RUSSIAN Microelectronics; Alternate Current; Cobalt Cluster; Niobium
• ISSN: 1063-7397; 1608-3415
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063739712080045

Much attention to electrical properties of titanium dioxide is due to the fact that it has recently started to be used in the manufacture of various electronic devices. Temperature dependences of the directcurrent (DC) and alternating-current (AC) conductivities of titanium dioxide layers doped with vanadium, as well as simultaneously with cobalt and niobium, are studied. The layers were produced by the high-frequency magnetron deposition in an oxygen/argon environment at a temperature of 550°C, vacuum of 2 × 10 −2 Torr, and a 0.07-nm/s deposition rate. Below room temperature, the electrical conductivity of vanadium-doped titanium dioxide is specified by a variable range-hopping conduction. The localized state density is estimated at the Fermi level. A tunneling conductance with thermal activation of carriers between clusters, presumably cobalt clusters, is detected for samples doped with cobalt and niobium. It is shown that the measurement of the dependence of the electrical resistance on the temperature is a fast and reliable method for determining the presence of clusters in a material.