Abstract: Vanadium oxide thin films with thickness of 80nm, 440nm and 1μm were deposited on normal glass substrate by reactive DC magnetron sputtering method. The surface morphology, structural feature and crystallization were studied by atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results reveal that the grain size and the crystallization state of the thin films are affected by the thickness of thin films. The grain size increases and the crystallization is enhanced with the film thickness increasing. The growth of the thin film demonstrates an obvious “columnar” preferential growth perpendicular to the glass substrates. Analyses of the square resistance and its temperature dependence demonstrate that the thickness of the films plays an important role on the electric properties of vanadium oxide thin films. With the thin film thickness increasing, the square resistance decreases, the temperature coefficient of square resistance increases, width of the hysteresis loop turns to broad, and the metal-semiconductor phase transition becomes obviously.

Key words: vanadium oxide thin films, glass, thickness, DC magnetron sputtering