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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Atomic Layer Deposition of Vanadium Dioxide and a Temperature-dependent Optical Model
Published on: May 23, 2018
Anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional investigation of vanadium carbide clusters
K L Knappenberger1, C E Jones, M A Sobhy
1Departments of Chemistry and Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Abstract:
The influence of source conditions on vanadium-carbon cluster formation in a methane-vanadium plasma is explored and analyzed by photoelectron spectroscopy, revealing that the metal-carbon ratio has substantial influence over the cluster products. Experiments that employ large methane content produce carbon-rich mono- and divanadium carbides. The carbon-rich clusters show a preference for the formation of cyclic neutral and linear ionic structures. When the methane concentration is decreased, VmCn clusters are formed with m = 1-4 and n = 2-8. The photoelectron spectra of clusters formed under these conditions are indicative of a three-dimensional network. We have measured a significantly lower vertical electron affinity for the VC2, V2C3, and V4C6 clusters compared with proximate species. Interestingly, the VC2 species is a proposed building block of the M8C12 Met-Car cluster, and the 2,3 and 4,6 clusters correspond to the 1/4 and 1/2 Met-Car cages, respectively. This correlation is taken as evidence of their importance in the formation of the larger Met-Car species. These results are supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations carried out at the PBE/GGA level.
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