Phase coexistence in the metal-insulator transition of a VO2 thin film

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) shows a metal-insulator transition (MIT) near room temperature, accompanied by an abrupt resistivity change. Since the MIT of VO2 is known to be a first order phase transition, it is valuable to check metallic and insulating phase segregation during the MIT process. We deposited (100)-oriented epitaxial VO2 thin films on R-cut sapphire substrates. From the scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) spectra, we could distinguish metallic and insulating regions by probing the band gap. Optical spectroscopic analysis also supported the view that the MIT in VO2 occurs through metal and insulator phase coexistence.