Abstract
Diluted magnetic semiconductors have attracted considerable attention for potential applications in spintronics. Morphology and microstructure exert strong, but complicated, effects upon ferromagnetic behavior. To partially unravel such effects, the present work compares room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in Mn-doped anatase TiO2 films synthesized by two different atomic layer deposition protocols, leading to either nanopillars or more conventional columnar grains. RTFM is largely unaffected by this difference for undoped material, but nanopillaring greatly increases both the coercive field (100 Oe) and saturation magnetization (14-21 emu/cm3) for Mn doping up to 2.7 at%. Nanopillaring seems to enhance the congregation of defect-related bound magnetic polarons near grain boundaries, thereby increasing RTFM.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 44-47 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Materials Letters |
Volume | 114 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Ferromagnetism
- Grain boundaries
- Nanocrystalline materials
- Semiconductors
- TiO
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering