films due to structural confinement*

We show that high purity V₂O₃ films grown on certain substrates exhibit a suppressed metal insulator transition (MIT) and in some cases even a reentrant metallic phase at low temperature. This occurs only in films which have the c-axis in the out-of-plane direction. For this lattice orientation the MIT entails a structural expansion which is entirely in the film plane. As the MIT progresses, some expansion into the low temperature monoclinic phase occurs but in-plane confinement prohibits a full expansion of the lattice. Instead, a coexisting metallic phase is stabilized down to the lowest temperatures measured. This low temperature metallic phase exhibits structural and electrical properties which are distinct from the high temperature metallic phase.