PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF VANADIUM DIOXIDE THERMOCHROMIC THIN-FILMS

Deposition of vanadium dioxide and the study of its electrical and optical properties at varying deposition conditions have been presented. The materials have been deposited by reactive r.f. magnetron sputtering technique in Ar, O2 ambient followed by annealing post-treatment. Electrical conductivity measurements indicate that oxygen pressure plays an important role in obtaining VO2 and at P(O2) = 2.4% stoichiometric VO2 can be obtained. The deposition rate of oxides decreases with increasing O2 pressure and the rate of VO2 was about 130 angstrom/min. Optical studies show that VO2 films exhibit thermochromism and it has the potential application for energy efficient solar energy utilization.