Zn vacancy induced room-temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-doped ZnO

Abstract

X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and first-principles calculations were employed to study the structure and ferromagnetism origin of Zn0.97Mn0.03O thin film grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The magnetization measurements indicate that this sample is ferromagnetic at room temperature. The Mn ions are located at the substitutional Zn sites as revealed by the Mn K-edge XAFS spectroscopy. Moreover, the O K-edge XAFS analysis indicated the existence of numerous Zn vacancies. Based on first-principles calculations, the authors propose that the Zn vacancy can induce the room-temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-doped ZnO.

X-ray absorption study of the local order around Mn in Mn:ZnO thin films: the role of vacancies and structural distortions

“…1. They are compared to the Mn K-edge spectra recorded for a Zn 0.95 Mn 0.05 O thin film by Pellicer-Porres et al [25] and to the theoretical computations performed by Yan et al [13].…”

Defects induced ferromagnetism in Mn doped ZnO

“…[28]. So in the present study, the doping level of Mn has etc) is FM at RT [16,29]. As the annealing temperature is same for all the samples (milled for different time), the resultant grain size is expected to be more or less same.…”

“…Some type of defects or disorder favors ferromagnetism and others competes with this phenomenon. Reports in favor of Zn vacancy (V Zn ) [8,16], O vacancy (V O ) [17,18] or Zn interstitial (I Zn ) [19] mediated ferromagnetism can be found. It is also found that the defect species involved in inducing ferromagnetism in one ZnO based DMS system may not be effective in similar others [4,7,20].…”

“…It is also found that the defect species involved in inducing ferromagnetism in one ZnO based DMS system may not be effective in similar others [4,7,20]. The site occupied by the dopant atom [16], its size, electronic configuration and defect decoration [9], lattice strain [21], band gap [5] etc. determines the final and modified band structure of the ZnO host lattice.…”

Density-Functional Study on the Origin of Ferromagnetism in Copper Doped Aluminium Nitride

“…[19] It provides a new way to obtain the DMSs free of magnetic elements. Although several theoretical studies have been done on the magnetic properties of Cu-doped AlN, [20,21] a systematic study on the magnetic mediation of intrinsic vacancies is still absent. Therefore, the origin of ferromagnetism is still unclear and needs further investigations.…”