VO2 films grown on TiO2 sub-layer: influence of thickness on structural, electrical and optical properties

Abstract

Vanadium dioxide with metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) that is triggered by heat, current or light is a promising material for modern active THz/mid-IR metasurfaces and all-optical big data processing systems. Multilayer VO2-based active metasurfaces are urgently needed however several important issues related to VO2 properties in VO2/TiO2/Al2O3 films should be thoroughly examined first. We study electrical, optical and structural properties of VO2 films as well as their composition and switching characteristics as function of the VO2 layer thickness in VO2/TiO2 composites. XRD analysis revealed an epitaxial growth of films with deformation of the monoclinic VO2 lattice to hexagonal symmetry. Reduced VO2 layer thickness from 170 nm to 20 nm results in increased phase transition temperature while the width of the resistance versus temperature hysteresis loop R(T) remains constant at ~6C for all VO2 thicknesses in the range of 20-170 nm. The resistance alteration ratio is reduced from 4.2e3 to 2.7e2 in thinner films. Raman spectra reveal a significant shift of VO2 lattice vibration modes for films thinner than 30 nm claiming a great structural strain whereas modes position for thicker VO2 layers are similar to those in bulk structure. Composition of VO2 films has revealed only a minor alteration of VO2/V2O5 phases ratio from 1.6 to 1.8 when the film thickness has been increased from 20 nm to 50 nm. Investigation of surface elemental composition and valence states of VO2 films revealed that VO2/V2O5 ratio remains practically unchanged with thickness reduction. The study of electrical MIT dynamics revealed the switching time of a 50 nm VO2 film to be as low as 800 ns.