Probing the insulator-to-metal transition in VO<sub>2</sub> using non-contact atomic force microscopy

ORAL

Abstract

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) undergoes an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) when heated above a critical temperature of 340 K. The role of Joule heating and applied electric field in inducing this transition is an active area of research. In this study, the IMT of VO2 thin films grown using oxygen plasma molecular beam epitaxy are examined using non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM) in ultrahigh vacuum. By measuring the dissipated power through a qPlus AFM tuning fork, the competing effects of Joule heating and applied electric field are assessed. With this non-invasive and highly sensitive technique, we can measure the IMT as a function of tip-sample distance and bias voltage.

*This work is supported by the STC Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, NSF Grant No. DMR-1231319, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4536, and the Canadian NSERC CGS-M graduate fellowship.

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Presenters

  • Michael Arumainayagam

    • Harvard University

Authors

  • Michael Arumainayagam

    • Harvard University

  • Alyson Spitzig

    • Harvard University

  • Xuguang Wang

    • Harvard University
    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

  • Larissa Little

    • Harvard University

  • Dilek Yildiz

    • Harvard University

  • Jason Hoffman

    • Harvard University

  • Jennifer E. Hoffman

    • Harvard University
    • Physics, Harvard University
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University