Raman analyses of co‐phasing and hysteresis behaviors in V 2 O 3 thin film

We present the studies of the phase transition behaviors of V 2 O 3 thin film using temperature‐dependent Raman scattering spectroscopy. Our results show that in both the cooling and heating processes of V 2 O 3 thin film, the phase transition occurs gradually but not suddenly, contrary to that in single crystal. The coexistence of both the metal and insulator phases with co‐phasing Δ T c larger than 30 K is observed in both the cooling and heating processes. We discuss that this large co‐phasing Δ T c should be distinguished with the large hysteresis Δ T h reported in nanostructures. In addition, our discussions indicate that co‐phasing Δ T c and hysteresis Δ T h would be mainly correlated with stress and defect states in sample, respectively. Furthermore, our Raman analyses suggest that stress would also induce phase transitions in V 2 O 3 , and the stress (pressure)‐induced phase transitions would behave differently comparing with the temperature‐induced transitions under normal pressure. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.