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Bulk V2O3 features concomitant metal-insulator (MIT) and structural (SPT)phase transitions at TC ~ 160 K. In thin films, where the substrate clampingcan impose geometrical restrictions on the SPT, the epitaxial relation betweenthe V2O3 film and substrate can have a profound effect on the MIT. Here wepresent a detailed characterization of domain nucleation and growth across theMIT in (001)-oriented V2O3 films grown on sapphire. By combining scanningelectron transmission microscopy (STEM) and photoelectron emission microscopy(PEEM), we imaged the MIT with planar and vertical resolution. We observed thatupon cooling, insulating domains nucleate at the top of the film, where strainis lowest, and expand downwards and laterally. This growth is arrested at acritical thickness of 50 nm from the substrate interface, leaving a persistentbottom metallic layer. As a result, the MIT cannot take place in the interiorof films below this critical thickness. However, PEEM measurements revealedthat insulating domains can still form on a very thin superficial layer at thetop interface. Our results demonstrate the intricate spatial complexity of theMIT in clamped V2O3, especially the strain-induced large variations along thec-axis. Engineering the thickness-dependent MIT can provide an unconventionalway to build out-of-plane geometry devices by using the persistent bottom metallayer as a native electrode.

Domain nucleation across the metal-insulator transition of self-strained V2O3 films