Structural and electrical characterization of V2O3 on various substrates: a comparative study

We investigate the structural morphology and electrical characteristics i.e., metal-insulator transition (MIT) of V2O3 thin films grown by high power impulse magnetron sputtering on Al2O3(c, r, m and a-plane), Si/SiO2 and Si/ SiO2 /TiO2. The MIT characteristics of films were linked to strain induced by substrate, growth temperature, the O2 flow settings, the lattice parameters of grown films and the stoichiometry. Of the studied substrates, films grown on c-plane Al2O3 and SiO2 showed a dominant abrupt transition with a strong MIT. Tunning the electrical transition characteristics of films grown on r-plane reveals MIT characteristics at high growth temperatures at remarkably low O2 flow settings compared to films grown on c-plane substrates.