The high quality Vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films have been fabricated successfully on sapphire by a simple novel sputtering oxidation coupling (SOC) method. All VO2 thin film samples exhibit a good metal-insulator transition (MIT) at about 340 K. The optimal oxidation time at different temperatures has been experimentally investigated. We report on the relationship between optimal oxidation time and different temperatures of metal vanadium thin film samples of 101 nm thickness by oxidation in air. It is found that the optimal oxidation time ln(t) as a function of temperature 1/T shows a significant linear relationship among 703 K-783 K, in good agreement with the Wagner's high-temperature oxidation model. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.