PREPARATION AND METAL-TO-INSULATOR TRANSITION (MIT) CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTIPHASE VANADIUM-OXIDE THIN-FILMS

The metal-to-insulator (MIT) characteristics of the multiphase vanadiu m oxide films including V2+, V3+, V4+ and V5+ ions prepared by reactiv e magnetron sputtering were studied, The average valency of vanadium i on increased when the residence time of active vanadium atom near the oxygen injection pipe, because the oxygen potential of this region is much higher than other part of chamber. Therefore, the final phases of the films depend on the configuration of sputtering system. For two p hase films, resistivity changed by a factor of similar to 10(3) Ohm . cm. However, MIT characteristics is getting weaker for the films consi sting of more than two phases. Therefore, the strain sensitive phase t ransition is suggested as a mechanism of MIT of multiphase vanadium ox ide thin films.