Observation of Metal–Insulator Transition (MIT) in Vanadium Oxides V₂O₃ and VO₂ in XRD, DSC and DC Experiments

Abstract

Due to metal–insulator transitions occurring in those compounds, materials and devices based on vanadium (III) and (IV) oxides draw increasing scientific attention. In this paper, we observed the transitions in both oxides using contemporary laboratory equipment. Changes in the crystallographic structure were precisely investigated as a function of the temperature with a step of 2 °C. Thermal effects during transitions were observed using differential scanning calorimetry. The DC conductivity of the materials was measured quasi-continuously as a function of the temperature. All the experiments were consistent and showed considerable hysteresis of the metal–insulator transition in both vanadium oxides.

Keywords

• metal–insulator transition
• vanadium oxide
• electrical conductivity
• phase transition