2015/06/15 by Mengkun Liu, Aaron Sternbach, Liu, Mengkun +45
Engineering · Materials Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Gas Sensing Nanomaterials and Sensors #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #Transition Metal Oxide Nanomaterials
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1506.04786
openalex publication_date 2015/06/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have systematically studied a variety of vanadium dioxide (VO2) crystalline forms, including bulk single crystals and oriented thin films, using infrared (IR) near-field spectroscopic imaging techniques. By measuring the IR spectroscopic responses of electrons and phonons in VO2 with sub-grain-size spatial resolution (~20 nm), we show that epitaxial strain in VO2 thin films not only triggers spontaneous local phase separations but also leads to intermediate electronic and lattice states that are intrinsically different from those found in bulk. Generalized rules of strain and symmetry dependent mesoscopic phase inhomogeneity are also discussed. These results set the stage for a comprehensive understanding of complex energy landscapes that may not be readily determined by macroscopic approaches.