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Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Metal-insulator transition tuned by oxygen vacancy migration across TiO2/VO2 interface.
Qiyang Lu1,2, Changhee Sohn1, Guoxiang Hu3
1Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
We controlled metal-insulator transitions in VO2 by migrating oxygen vacancies from a TiO2 layer. This significantly reduced the resistance in the insulating phase, enabling new applications in ionotronics and neuromorphic computing.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Oxide Electronics
Background:
- Oxygen defects are crucial for tuning functional oxide properties.
- These defects can alter crystal symmetry and electronic structure, leading to emergent phenomena.
- Metal-insulator transitions (MIT) in oxides offer potential for advanced electronic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To achieve tunable MIT in oxide heterostructures.
- To investigate the role of interfacial oxygen vacancy migration in controlling MIT.
- To explore applications in ionotronics and neuromorphic computing.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of TiO2/VO2 heterostructures.
- Systematic structural and transport measurements.
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations.
Main Results:
- Depositing TiO2 on VO2 reduced the insulating phase resistance.
- Oxygen vacancy migration from TiO2 to VO2 suppressed the MIT.
- Achieved a significantly reduced OFF/ON resistance ratio.
Conclusions:
- Interfacial oxygen vacancy migration is key to controlling heterostructure electronic properties.
- This provides a novel approach for designing oxide heterostructures.
- Potential for novel ionotronics and neuromorphic-computing devices.
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