Fabrication of vanadium oxide thin film with high-temperature coefficient of resistance using V2O5/V/V2O5 multi-layers for uncooled microbolometers

Vanadium oxide thin film is a promising material for uncooled microbolometers due to its high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) at room temperature. It is, however, very difficult to deposit vanadium oxide thin films having a high temperature coefficient of resistance and low resistance because of the process limits in microbolometer fabrication. We present a novel fabrication method for vanadium oxide thin films having good electrical properties. Through the formation of a sandwich structure of V2O5 (100 Angstrom)/V (similar to80 Angstrom)/V2O5 (500 Angstrom) by a conventional sputter method and post-annealing at 300 degreesC in oxygen, a mixed phase of VOx is formed. The results show that the mixed phase formed by this process has a high TCR of more than - 2%/degreesC and low resistivity of < 0.1 Ohm cm at room temperature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.