Effect of Zr Doping on the Magnetic and Phase Transition Properties of VO(2) Powder

In this work, V(1−x)Zr(x)O(2) powder (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04) was synthesized by two step hydrothermal method. The micro-topography, magnetic and phase transition properties have been investigated using various measurement techniques. All prepared V(1−x)Zr(x)O(2) powder samples exhibit monoclinic structure at room temperature. With the Zr(4+) ions doping concentration increased, the shapes of VO(2) particles change from spherical to rectangular slice. Besides, the saturation magnetic moment of the samples decrease with the increase of doped Zr(4+) ions concentration, while their phase transition temperature increase gradually with Zr ions doping at a rate of around 2 °C/at% on average. We investigated the Zr doping effects on V-V dimers and confirmed the role of V-V dimers in phase transition. We speculate that more V-V dimers form with Zr doping by magnetic measurements, which result in the monoclinic phase of Zr-doped VO(2) sample is more stable than rutile phase. Therefore the phase transition temperature is elevated by Zr doping in our experiment. We further consider that the VO(2) phase transition should be ascribed to Peierls transition caused by the changing of V-V dimers.