Pulsed laser deposition of VO2 thin films

High quality vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films have been successfully deposited by pulsed laser deposition without postannealing on (0001) and (101̄0) sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction reveals that the films are highly oriented with (010) planes parallel to the surface of the substrate. VO2 thin films on (0001) and (101̄0) substrates show semiconductor to metal transistions with electrical resistance changes as large as 4×104, 105, respectively. Thin films on (101̄0) substrate have a transition at as low as 55 °C with a hysteresis less than 1 °C. These transition properties are comparable with single crystal VO2.