The Effect of Substrate Biasing during DC Magnetron Sputtering on the Quality of VO₂ Thin Films and Their...

In this work, VO₂ thin films were deposited on Si wafers (onto (100) surface) by DC magnetron sputtering under different cathode bias voltages. The effects of substrate biasing on the structural and optical properties were investigated. The results show that the metal-insulator transition (MIT) temperature of VO₂ thin films can be increased up to 14 K by applying a cathode bias voltage, compared to deposition conditions without any bias. The decrease in the transition efficiency and increase in the transition temperature are attributed to the enlarged grain size, increased defects, and the residual stress in the VO₂ thin films induced by biasing. The optical transmittance measurements for different thickness films indicate an attenuation coefficient of 3.1 × 10⁷ m^-1 at 2000 nm or an extinction coefficient of 4.9 in the metal phase. The optical transmittance vs wavelength characteristics point to an indirect bandgap of 0.6 ± 0.5 eV and significant scattering in the bulk and/or at the interface.