Synthesis of Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films and Nanopowders: a Brief Review

Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) undergoes semiconductor-metal phase transition (SMPT) at the ambient temperature. Due to this fact, it becomes perspective material for thermo sensors, thermo switchers, optical switchers and shutters, IR sensors, thermochromic coatings, smart coatings for glasses, holographic elements, and elements of energy-independent memory. By now, there is no doubt that the characteristics of SMPT depend on VO 2 morphology. Morphology, in turn, depends on the synthetic procedure. In this review, we survey the methods of synthesis of VO 2 thin (microand nanosized) films and nanopowders; namely, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), physical vapour deposition (PVD), sol-gel method, atomic layer deposition (ALD), and hydrothermal synthesis. The peculiarities of the morphology of synthesized products will be discussed regarding for the conditions of synthetics procedures.