Effect of quantum confinement on thermoelectric properties of vanadium dioxide nanofilms

The quantum confinement effect on thermoelectric properties of pristine vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanofilms across semiconductor to metal phase transition (SMT) has been demonstrated by studying VO2 nanofilms of 15 nm thickness in comparison to microfilms of 290 nm thickness synthesized via inorganic sol–gel method casted on glass substrates by spin coating technique. The ebbing of phase transition temperature in nanofilms across SMT was consistent with the results obtained from resistance–temperature hysteresis contour during SMT dynamics of the nanofilms. The temperature dependent Hall and Seebeck measurements revealed that electrons were the charge carriers in the nanofilms and that the value of charge carrier concentration increased as much as 4 orders of magnitude while going across SMT which stood responsible almost entirely for resistance variations. The decline in carrier mobility and escalation in Seebeck coefficient in the low temperature semiconducting region were splendidly witnessed across SMT.