Phase evolution and thermochromism of vanadium oxide thin films grown at low substrate temperatures during magnetron sputtering

Abstract Vanadium oxides (VOx) have been studied extensively for applications in thermochromic materials, electrochomics, and infrared detectors due to their unique phase transition characteristics. However, various vanadium oxide phases usually occur under different deposition conditions due to their particularly complex vanadium-oxygen system. In this research, V3O7, VO2(B), VO2(M), and V2O5 thin films were obtained as pure or mixed phases by controlling the substrate temperatures between 250 °C and 400 °C during magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and phase composition of vanadium oxide thin films were characterized and analyzed using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The phase evolution was dependent on the substrate temperature and could be clarified. Metastable V3O7 and VO2(B) phases were obtained at substrate temperatures of 250–300 °C, while stable VO2 and V2O5 phases were obtained at 350–400 °C. The surface morphology and optical properties of vanadium oxide thin films with different substrate temperatures were investigated in detail. Our results provide methods for transforming vanadium oxide phases under well controlled substrate temperatures.