Controlled thermal oxidation of nanostructured vanadium thin films

Abstract Pure V thin films were dc sputtered with different pressures (0.4 and 0.6 Pa) and particle incident angles α of 0°, 20° and 85°, by using the GLancing Angle Deposition (GLAD) technique. The sputtered films were characterized regarding their electrical resistivity behaviour in atmospheric pressure and in-vacuum conditions as a function of temperature (40–550 °C), in order to control the oxidation process. Aiming at comprehending the oxidation behaviour of the samples, extensive morphological and structural studies were performed on the as-deposited and annealed samples. Main results show that, in opposition to annealing in air, the columnar nanostructures are preserved in vacuum con…