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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Atomic Layer Deposition of Vanadium Dioxide and a Temperature-dependent Optical Model
Published on: May 23, 2018
Enhanced photosusceptibility near Tc for the light-induced insulator-to-metal phase transition in vanadium dioxide
D J Hilton1, R P Prasankumar, S Fourmaux
1Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, MS K771, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
We use optical-pump terahertz-probe spectroscopy to investigate the near-threshold behavior of the photoinduced insulator-to-metal (IM) transition in vanadium dioxide thin films. Upon approaching Tc a reduction in the fluence required to drive the IM transition is observed, consistent with a softening of the insulating state due to an increasing metallic volume fraction (below the percolation limit). This phase coexistence facilitates the growth of a homogeneous metallic conducting phase following superheating via photoexcitation. A simple dynamic model using Bruggeman effective medium theory describes the observed initial condition sensitivity.
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