In this study, vanadium oxide (VxOy) semiconducting resistive thermometer thin films were developed, and their temperature-dependent resistive behavior was examined. Multilayers of 5-nm-thick vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) and 5-nm-thick vanadium (V) films were alternately sputter-deposited, at room temperature, to form 105-nm-thick VxOy films, which were post-deposition annealed at 300 °C in O₂ and N₂ atmospheres for 30 and 40 min. The synthesized VxOy thin films were then patterned into resistive thermometer structures, and their resistance versus temperature (R-T) characteristics were measured. Samples annealed in O₂ achieved temperature coefficients of resistance (TCRs) of -3.0036 and -2.4964%/K at resistivity values of 0.01477 and 0.00819 Ω·cm, respectively. Samples annealed in N₂ achieved TCRs of -3.18 and -1.1181%/K at resistivity values of 0.04718 and 0.002527 Ω·cm, respectively. The developed thermometer thin films had TCR/resistivity properties suitable for microbolometer and antenna-coupled microbolometer applications. The employed multilayer synthesis technique was shown to be effective in tuning the TCR/resistivity properties of the thin films by varying the annealing conditions.
Keywords: antenna-coupled microbolometer; microbolometer; multilayer structure; resistivity; semiconductor; temperature coefficient of resistance; temperature sensing; thermometer; vanadium oxide.