Metal-insulator transition and nonlinear optical responseof sputter-deposited V3O5 thin films

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The compound V3O5, a member of the vanadium oxide Magnéli series, exhibits a metal-insulator transition near 430 K, the highest known temperature value among all vanadium oxides. It has been studied before mainly in single-crystal form, and for the very few cases in which thin films have been fabricated before, the procedure has required extensive post-deposition annealing of other oxides or vanadium metal at high temperatures in tightly controlled atmospheres. For the present work, V3O5 films were deposited directly on SiO2 glass substrates, without subsequent annealing, by DC magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction study of the samples evidenced oxygen deficiency, accommodated by oxygen vacancies. Resistivity measurements from 300 to 500 K revealed the metal-insulator transition by Tc ∼ 430 K, with an associated resistivity change by a factor of 20, and no detectable hysteresis in heating-cooling cycles, in agreement with most single-crystal studies. Resistivity values obtained were, however, lower than published results for bulk crystal values, particularly at temperatures below Tc. This was attributed to conduction electrons generated by the oxygen vacancies. Gradual resistivity increase in a very thin sample, through heating in air at temperatures up to 500 K, lends support to this argument. Using a pump-probe scattering technique, the V3O5 films were also probed for ultrafast nonlinear optical response. A reduction in the transient relative scattered light signal was recorded, which reached –10% within ∼800 fs. This observed response, likely related to the photoinduced insulator-to-metal phase transition, should stimulate additional interest in this material.
Funding Information
  • Army Research Office (W911NF-15-1-0448)

This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit: