Low temperature deposition of VO2 thin films

VO2 thin films have been deposited by a variety of techniques such as thermal oxidation, reactive evaporation, and magnetron or ion beam sputtering. These methods routinely require deposition temperatures in excess of 400 °C in order to promote crystallization of the VO2 phase. We report on a technique, employing low energy ion bombardment of reactively evaporated VO2, which promotes crystallization of the VO2 phase at temperatures as low as 300 °C. Properties of films deposited at these unusually low substrate temperatures will be discussed.