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Atomically-abrupt interfaces in transition metal oxide (TMO) heterostructurescould host a variety of exotic condensed matter phases that may not be found inthe bulk materials at equilibrium. A critical step in the development of suchatomically-sharp interfaces is the deposition of atomically-smooth TMO thinfilms. Optimized deposition conditions exist for the growth of perovskiteoxides. However, the deposition of rutile oxides, such as VO$_2$, withatomic-layer precision has been challenging. In this work, we used pulsed laserdeposition (PLD) to grow atomically-smooth VO$_2$ thin films on rutile TiO$_2$(101) substrates. We show that optimal substrate preparation procedure followedby the deposition of VO$_2$ films at a temperature conducive for step-flowgrowth mode is essential for achieving atomically-smooth VO$_2$ films. Thefilms deposited at optimal substrate temperatures show a step and terracestructure of the underlying TiO$_2$ substrate. At lower depositiontemperatures, there is a transition to a mixed growth mode comprising of islandgrowth and layer-by-layer growth modes. VO$_2$ films deposited at optimalsubstrate temperatures undergo a metal to insulator transition at a transitiontemperature of $\sim$325 K with $\sim$10$^3$ times increase in resistance, akinto MIT in bulk VO$_2$.

Atomically-Smooth Single-Crystalline VO$_2$ thin films with Bulk-like Metal-Insulator Transitions