Influence of the vacuum interface on the charge distribution in V2O3 thin films

The electronic structure of V2O3 thin films is studied by means of the augmented spherical wave method as based on density functional theory and the local density approximation. We establish that the effects of charge redistribution, induced by the vacuum interface, in such films are restricted to a very narrow surface layer of ≈15Å thickness. As a consequence, charge redistribution can be ruled out as a source of the extraordinary thickness dependence of the metal–insulator transition observed in V2O3 thin films of ∼100–1000Å thickness.