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Title: The phase transition in VO2 probed using x-ray, visible and infrared radiations

Abstract

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a model system that has been used to understand closely occurring multiband electronic (Mott) and structural (Peierls) transitions for over half a century due to continued scientific and technological interests. Among the many techniques used to study VO2, the most frequently used involve electromagnetic radiation as a probe. Understanding of the distinct physical information provided by different probing radiations is incomplete, mostly owing to the complicated nature of the phase transitions. Here, we use transmission of spatially averaged infrared (λ = 1.5 μm) and visible (λ = 500 nm) radiations followed by spectroscopy and nanoscale imaging using x-rays (λ = 2.25–2.38 nm) to probe the same VO2 sample while controlling the ambient temperature across its hysteretic phase transitions and monitoring its electrical resistance. We directly observed nanoscale puddles of distinct electronic and structural compositions during the transition. The two main results are that, during both heating and cooling, the transition of infrared and visible transmission occurs at significantly lower temperatures than the Mott transition, and the electronic (Mott) transition occurs before the structural (Peierls) transition in temperature. We use our data to provide insights into possible microphysical origins of the different transition characteristics. We highlight thatmore » it is important to understand these effects because small changes in the nature of the probe can yield quantitatively, and even qualitatively, different results when applied to a non-trivial multiband phase transition. Our results guide more judicious use of probe type and interpretation of the resulting data.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Hewlett Packard Labs., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1393028
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1238077
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 108; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Kumar, Suhas, Strachan, John Paul, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Tyliszczak, Tolek, Pickett, Matthew D., Santori, Charles, Gibson, Gary, and Williams, R. Stanley. The phase transition in VO2 probed using x-ray, visible and infrared radiations. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4939746.
Kumar, Suhas, Strachan, John Paul, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Tyliszczak, Tolek, Pickett, Matthew D., Santori, Charles, Gibson, Gary, & Williams, R. Stanley. The phase transition in VO2 probed using x-ray, visible and infrared radiations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939746
Kumar, Suhas, Strachan, John Paul, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Tyliszczak, Tolek, Pickett, Matthew D., Santori, Charles, Gibson, Gary, and Williams, R. Stanley. 2016. "The phase transition in VO2 probed using x-ray, visible and infrared radiations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939746. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1393028.
@article{osti_1393028,
title = {The phase transition in VO2 probed using x-ray, visible and infrared radiations},
author = {Kumar, Suhas and Strachan, John Paul and Kilcoyne, A. L. David and Tyliszczak, Tolek and Pickett, Matthew D. and Santori, Charles and Gibson, Gary and Williams, R. Stanley},
abstractNote = {Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a model system that has been used to understand closely occurring multiband electronic (Mott) and structural (Peierls) transitions for over half a century due to continued scientific and technological interests. Among the many techniques used to study VO2, the most frequently used involve electromagnetic radiation as a probe. Understanding of the distinct physical information provided by different probing radiations is incomplete, mostly owing to the complicated nature of the phase transitions. Here, we use transmission of spatially averaged infrared (λ = 1.5 μm) and visible (λ = 500 nm) radiations followed by spectroscopy and nanoscale imaging using x-rays (λ = 2.25–2.38 nm) to probe the same VO2 sample while controlling the ambient temperature across its hysteretic phase transitions and monitoring its electrical resistance. We directly observed nanoscale puddles of distinct electronic and structural compositions during the transition. The two main results are that, during both heating and cooling, the transition of infrared and visible transmission occurs at significantly lower temperatures than the Mott transition, and the electronic (Mott) transition occurs before the structural (Peierls) transition in temperature. We use our data to provide insights into possible microphysical origins of the different transition characteristics. We highlight that it is important to understand these effects because small changes in the nature of the probe can yield quantitatively, and even qualitatively, different results when applied to a non-trivial multiband phase transition. Our results guide more judicious use of probe type and interpretation of the resulting data.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4939746},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1393028}, journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
issn = {0003-6951},
number = 7,
volume = 108,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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Works referenced in this record:

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Distinct Length Scales in the VO 2 Metal-Insulator Transition Revealed by Bi-chromatic Optical Probing
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Ultra-thin perfect absorber employing a tunable phase change material
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Direct Observation of Decoupled Structural and Electronic Transitions and an Ambient Pressure Monocliniclike Metallic Phase of VO 2
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Decoupling of Structural and Electronic Phase Transitions in VO 2
journal, October 2012


Instantaneous Band Gap Collapse in Photoexcited Monoclinic VO 2 due to Photocarrier Doping
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Structural and Electrical Properties of Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films
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Calculation Evidence of Staged Mott and Peierls Transitions in VO 2 Revealed by Mapping Reduced-Dimension Potential Energy Surface
journal, August 2015


Observation of insulating-insulating monoclinic structural transition in macro-sized VO2 single crystals
journal, January 2011


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Spatially uniform resistance switching of low current, high endurance titanium–niobium-oxide memristors
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Joule heating driven infrared switching in flexible VO 2 nanoparticle films with reduced energy consumption for smart windows
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Thermal hysteresis measurement of the VO 2 dielectric function for its metal-insulator transition by visible-IR ellipsometry
journal, November 2018


Microscopic nature of the asymmetric hysteresis in the insulator-metal transition of VO 2 revealed by spectroscopic ellipsometry
journal, November 2018


Morphology induced spectral reflectance lineshapes in VO 2 thin films
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Tailoring active color rendering and multiband photodetection in a vanadium-dioxide-based metamaterial absorber
journal, January 2018