The characteristics of Au:VO2 nanocomposite thin film for photo-electricity applications

Au nanoparticles have been fabricated on normal glass substrates using nanosphere lithography (NSL) method. Vanadium dioxide has been deposited on Au/glass by reactive radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. The structure and composition were determined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope. Electrical and optical properties of bare VO2 and Au:VO2 nanocomposite thin films were measured. Typical hysteresis behavior and sharp phase transition were observed. Nanopartical Au could effectively reduce the transition temperature to 40 °C. The transmittance spectrum for both Au:VO2 nanocomposite thin film shows high transmittance under transition temperature and low transmittance above transition temperature. The characteristics present the Au:VO2 nanocomposite thin film can be used for applications, such as “smart window” or “laser protector”.