AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Monday Sessions
       Session TR+AS+NS+SS-MoA

Paper TR+AS+NS+SS-MoA10
Nanoprobing of Friction and Charge Transport Properties of Vanadium Dioxide under the Metal-Insulator Transition

Monday, October 28, 2013, 5:00 pm, Room 203 C

Session: Molecular Origins of Friction
Presenter: J.H. Kim, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Authors: J.H. Kim, KAIST, Republic of Korea
D. Fu, University of California, Berkeley
K. Wang, University of California, Berkeley
J. Wu, University of California, Berkeley
J.Y. Park, KAIST, Republic of Korea
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The nanomechanical and electrical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films across thermal-driven phase transitions were investigated using ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscopy. VO2 thin films were deposited on an n-type, heavily-doped silicon wafer by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction revealed textured polycrystalline structures in the monoclinic phase with preferential orientations in the (100) and (120) planes. Friction and conductance mapping were obtained as a function of temperature across the metal-insulator transition. When below the transition temperature, the friction decreased, whereas the friction increased markedly when above the transition temperature. This peculiar result can be attributed to the combined effects of thermally-activated tip sliding, associated with phonon at the insulating phase, and electronic contributions in the metallic phase.