Preparation and characterization of thin film thermistors of metal oxides of manganese and vanadium (Mn-V-O)

► Thin film thermistors of manganese-vanadium-oxides investigated for the first time. ► These films show NTC resistivity with activation energy 0.274 to 0.358eV. ► Electrical conductivity is due to small polaron hopping. ► The thin films have optical band gaps varying from 2.66 to 3.17eV. ► Selected thin films show a unique higher optical absorption in near infrared region. Thin films of mixed metal oxides of manganese and vanadium (Mn-V-O) have been prepared by electron beam evaporation technique for the first time. Chemical composition, surface morphology and electrical and optical properties of thin films have been studied using energy dispersive analysis of x-ray (EDAX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-VIS-NIR spectrometer. It is observed by X-ray diffraction analysis that all the thin films of Mn-V-O are amorphous. The XPS analyses indicate the core level binding energies correspond to Mn (2p), V (2p) and O (1s). The study of electrical properties clearly show that all the thin films follow a typical characteristics of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) resistivity, with activation energy varying from 0.274 to 0.358eV, which is attributed to small polaron hopping. The observed temperature of coefficient of resistivity (TCR) is found to be comparable with TCR of many of the known thermistor materials. All the thin film samples are found to have optical band gaps varying from 2.66 to 3.17eV which are marginally different from the band gaps of MnO and V2O5. The optical absorption characteristics in near infrared region show enhanced absorption compared to visible region which are attributed to presence of defect states due to V4+, oxygen ion vacancies and energy states due to polarons.