- Home
- Research
- Publications
- Weak ferromagnetism in textured Zn1-x(TM)(x)O thin films
Weak ferromagnetism in textured Zn1-x(TM)(x)O thin films
in: Superlattices and Microstructures (2006)
Room-temperature ferromagnetic Zn1−x(TM)xO semiconductor thin films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on c-plane sapphire substrates and the effect of the substitution of Zn2+ ions by transition metal ions (Mn2+ or Ti2+) has been investigated. In contrast to ZnTiO thin films, the grain size of the ZnMnO thin films can be controlled in a wide range by the PLD growth conditions. The magnetic properties of the Zn1−x(TM)xO films have been investigated by a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). For semi-insulating ZnMnO films with an optimized grain size, we observed a weak ferromagnetism for temperatures up to 400 K [M. Diaconu, H. Schmidt, H. Hochmuth,M. Lorenz, G. Benndorf, J. Lenzner, D. Spemann, A. Setzer, K.-W. Nielsen, P. Esquinazi, M. Grundmann, Thin Solid Films 486 (2005) 117–121], while the ZnTiO films were only paramagnetic or superparamagnetic. This is expected with respect to the micromagnetic model.