Raman analyses of co-phasing and hysteresis behaviors in V2O3 thin film

We present the studies of the phase transition behaviors of V2O3 thin film using temperature-dependent Raman scattering spectroscopy. Our results show that in both the cooling and heating processes of V2O3 thin film, the phase transition occurs gradually but not suddenly, contrary to that in single crystal. The coexistence of both the metal and insulator phases with co-phasing ?Tc larger than 30?K is observed in both the cooling and heating processes. We discuss that this large co-phasing ?Tc should be distinguished with the large hysteresis ?Th reported in nanostructures. In addition, our discussions indicate that co-phasing ?Tc and hysteresis ?Th would be mainly correlated with stress and defect states in sample, respectively. Furthermore, our Raman analyses suggest that stress would also induce phase transitions in V2O3, and the stress (pressure)-induced phase transitions would behave differently comparing with the temperature-induced transitions under normal pressure. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.