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Enhanced Metal–Insulator Transition in Freestanding VO2 Down to 5 nm Thickness
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    Functional Inorganic Materials and Devices

    Enhanced Metal–Insulator Transition in Freestanding VO2 Down to 5 nm Thickness
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    • Kun Han
      Kun Han
      Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore
      Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
      More by Kun Han
    • Liang Wu*
      Liang Wu
      Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore
      School of Material Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650093, China
      *Email: [email protected]
      More by Liang Wu
    • Yu Cao
      Yu Cao
      Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3 117583, Singapore
      More by Yu Cao
    • Hanyu Wang
      Hanyu Wang
      Center for Quantum Transport and Thermal Energy Science (CQTES), School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
      More by Hanyu Wang
    • Chen Ye
      Chen Ye
      Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore
      More by Chen Ye
    • Ke Huang
      Ke Huang
      Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore
      More by Ke Huang
    • M. Motapothula
      M. Motapothula
      Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala SE-75120, Sweden
      Department of Physics, SRM University AP, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh 522-502, India
    • Hongna Xing
      Hongna Xing
      School of Physics, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
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    • Xinghua Li
      Xinghua Li
      School of Physics, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
      More by Xinghua Li
    • Dong-Chen Qi
      Dong-Chen Qi
      Centre for Materials Science, School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
      More by Dong-Chen Qi
    • Xiao Li
      Xiao Li
      Center for Quantum Transport and Thermal Energy Science (CQTES), School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
      More by Xiao Li
    • X. Renshaw Wang*
      X. Renshaw Wang
      Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore
      School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore
      *Email: [email protected]
    Other Access OptionsSupporting Information (1)

    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 14, 16688–16693
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c01581
    Published April 1, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

    Abstract

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    Ultrathin freestanding membranes with a pronounced metal–insulator transition (MIT) have huge potential for future flexible electronic applications as well as provide a unique aspect for the study of lattice–electron interplay. However, the reduction of the thickness to an ultrathin region (a few nm) is typically detrimental to the MIT in epitaxial films, and even catastrophic for their freestanding form. Here, we report an enhanced MIT in VO2-based freestanding membranes, with a lateral size up to millimeters and the VO2 thickness down to 5 nm. The VO2 membranes were detached by dissolving a Sr3Al2O6 sacrificial layer between the VO2 thin film and the c-Al2O3(0001) substrate, allowing the transfer onto arbitrary surfaces. Furthermore, the MIT in the VO2 membrane was greatly enhanced by inserting an intermediate Al2O3 buffer layer. In comparison with the best available ultrathin VO2 membranes, the enhancement of MIT is over 400% at a 5 nm VO2 thickness and more than 1 order of magnitude for VO2 above 10 nm. Our study widens the spectrum of functionality in ultrathin and large-scale membranes and enables the potential integration of MIT into flexible electronics and photonics.

    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

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    Supporting Information

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    The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c01581.

    • Detailed comparison of MIT of different VO2 films and stylus profilometer and X-ray reflectivity calibration of film thickness (PDF)

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    This article is cited by 28 publications.

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    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 14, 16688–16693
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c01581
    Published April 1, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

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