The aim of this study is to optimize the conditions for producing thin VO₂ films for their use in SAW devices. We used the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method to produce VO₂ films. We used a metallic vanadium target. The dependence of the oxygen pressure during PLD on the resistive metal–insulator transition (MIT) on substrates of c-sapphire and LiNbO₃ YX/128∘ was studied. The resulting films had sharp metal–insulator temperature transitions on c-Al₂O₃. The most high-quality films showed resistance change by four orders of magnitude. At the lower point of the hysteresis, the resistance of these samples was in the range of 50–100 Ω. The synthesized VO₂ films had a sharp temperature transition and a relatively small width of thermal hysteresis. The SAW damping during its passage through a VO₂/ZnO/LiNbO₃ YX/128∘ film at the metal–insulator phase transition temperature was studied. Attenuation SAW decreases with increasing temperature from 52 dB/cm to 0 dB/cm.The aim of this study is to optimize the conditions for producing thin VO₂ films for their use in SAW devices. We used the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method to produce VO₂ films. We used a metallic vanadium target. The dependence of the oxygen pressure during PLD on the resistive metal–insulator transition (MIT) on substrates of c-sapphire and LiNbO₃ YX/128∘ was studied. The resulting films had sharp metal–insulator temperature transitions on c-Al₂O₃. The most high-quality films showed resistance change by four orders of magnitude. At the lower point of the hysteresis, the resistance of these samples was in the range of 50–100 Ω. The synthesized VO₂ films had a sharp temperature transition and a relatively small width of thermal hysteresis. The SAW damping during its passage through a VO₂/ZnO/LiNbO₃ YX/128∘ film at the metal–insulator phase transition temperature was studied. Attenuation SAW decreases with increasing temperature from 52 dB/cm to 0 dB/cm.