Ar-implanted vanadium dioxide thin film with the reduced phase transition temperature

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 314; p. 131895
• Main Authors: Liubchenko, O., Kladko, V., Melnik, V., Romanyuk, B., Gudymenko, O., Sabov, T., Dubikovskyi, O., Maksimenko, Z., Kosulya, O., Kulbachynskyi, O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.05.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Defect annealing; Ion implantation; Magnetron sputtering; Materials science; Metal-insulator transition; Phase transitions; Point defects; Temperature; Thermal cycling; Thin films; Transition temperature; Vanadium dioxide; Vanadium dioxide thin films; Vanadium oxides; Vanadium dioxide thin films; Metal-insulator transition; Ion implantation
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2022.131895

•VO2 films were grown by 3-step method: deposition, annealing and ion implantation.•MIT is reduced below 40 °C with high TCR value ∼ 10%/°C after Ar2+ implantation.•MIT parameters, strains and point defects are intertwined closely. VO2 layers with a low metal–insulator phase transition (MIT) temperature TMIT below 40 °C were prepared using magnetron sputtering, rapid thermal annealing, and Ar2+ ion implantation. The implantation-induced strains and point defects effectively lower the metal–insulator transition temperature, while the subsequent thermal cycling (cooling-heating cycles) improves the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) up to the values >10%/°C within the temperature range 30–40 °C. These approaches can be used to extend the range of applications of VO2 thin films, especially for uncooled microbolometers. A methodology for studying the influence of defects and strains on electrical parameters of MIT in VO2 films has been proposed.