Synthesis and ionic liquid gating of hexagonal WO3 thin films

Abstract

Via thin film deposition techniques, the meta-stable in bulk crystal hexagonal phase of tungsten oxide (hex-WO3) is stabilized as a thin film. The hex-WO3 structure is potentially promising for numerous applications and is related to the structure for superconducting compounds found in WO3. Utilizing ionic liquid gating, carriers were electrostatically induced in the films and an insulator-to-metal transition is observed. These results show that ionic liquid gating is a viable technique to alter the electrical transport properties of WO3.