Textured metastable VO_2 (B) thin films on SrTiO_3 substrates with significantly enhanced conductivity

摘要

Textured metastable VO_2 (B) thin films with a layered structure were grown on SrTiO_3 (001) by pulsed laser deposition. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results indicate that VO_2 (B) films exhibit c-axis out-of-plane, while the films have 4 possible in-plane matching relations. In addition, a small amount of VO_2 (M) phase can co-grow in the VO_2 (B) phase when the film thickness exceeds a threshold. The thick VO_2 films on STO exhibit a sharp metal-insulator transition with an increase of electrical conductivity in two orders of magnitude. This study may provide an alternative approach to enhance the performance of insulating VO_2 (B) based batteries with increased electrical conductivity by incorporating VO_2 (M) phase in the VO_2 (B) phase layered network.