The electrical properties of nitrogen-doped vanadium dioxide thin films grown by magnetron sputtering

Abstract Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) undergoes a reversible semiconductor-metal phase transition near 68°C, and the optical and electrical properties could be changed in femtoseconds. These unique characteristics meet the electro-optic switch applications. In this work, to improve the intrinsic characteristics of VO 2 , a series of nitrogen-doped vanadium dioxide thin films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering. Moreover, the effects of different nitrogen flow rates on the microstructure, surface morphology, electrical properties and phase transition properties of the samples were investigated. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), four-point probe system, and Hall effect et al. Sheet resistance variation at room temperature and high temperatures indicates remarkable semiconductor-metal transition characteristics. According to results of Hall effect measurement, when nitrogen flow rate is less than 1 sccm, the samples exhibits p-type semiconductor characteristics. However, while nitrogen flow rate reaches 1 sccm, n-type semiconductor characteristics appear. What’s more, Carrier mobility reaches a maximum at a nitrogen to oxygen flow ratio of 0.3. The results reveal that the samples have a great potential on electro-optic switching applications.