Temperature Dependence of Nanoscale Friction and Conductivity on Vanadium Dioxide Thin Film During Metal-Insulator Transition

Nanomechanical and electrical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films across thermal-driven phase transition are investigated with ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscopy. VO2 thin films have been deposited on the n-type heavily doped silicon wafer by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction reveals that it is textured polycrystalline with preferential orientation of (100) and (120) planes in monoclinic phase. As the temperature increases, the friction decreased at the temperature below the transition temperature, and then the friction increased as increasing temperature above the transition temperature. We attribute this observation to the combined effect of the thermal lubricity and electronic contribution in friction. Furthermore, the dependence of nanoscale conductance on the local pressure was indicated at the various temperatures, and the result was discussed in the view of pressure-induced metal-insulator transition.