Thin films made by vanadium oxide have been obtained by direct current magnetron sputtering method on SiO2 buffer layers. A detailed electrical and structural characterization has been performed on the deposited films by four-point probe method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At room temperature, the four-point probe measurement result presents the resistance of the film to be 25 kU/sheet. The temperature coefficient of resistance is - 2.0%/K. SEM image indicates that the vanadium oxide exhibits a submicrostructure with lamella size ranging from 60 nm to 300 nm. A 32 x 32-element test microbolometer was fabricated based on the deposited thin film. The infrared response testing showed that the response was 200 mV The obtained results allow us to conclude that the vanadium oxide thin films on SiO2 buffer layers is suitable for uncooled focal plane arrays applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.