Direct production of thermochromic VO2 thin film coatings by pulsed laser ablation

Experimental morphological, electrical and optical properties of VO2 thermo chromic thin films synthesised by excimer pulsed laser ablation are reporte d. These thermochromic films were elaborated on three different types of su bstrates from VO2 bulk target without any substrate heating or atmosphere c ontrol during the deposition process. Irrespective of the nature of the sub strate, all films showed a large sharp transition close to that given by pe rfect bulk VO2 crystals. Irrespective of the nature of the substrate, these laser-ablated films optically switch abruptly from 28% in the metal state to nearly 72% approximately in the semi-conducting state at 3000 nm upon co oling through the transition well centred around 68 degrees C. (C) 2000 Pub lished by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.