Room temperature ferromagnetism in Cd-doped ZnO thin films through defect engineering

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds Vol. 598; pp. 120 - 125
• Main Authors: Debbichi, M., Souissi, M., Fouzri, A., Schmerber, G., Said, M., Alouani, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 15.06.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Ab initio calculations; Cadmium; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Density functional theory; Exact sciences and technology; Ferromagnetism; Magnetic properties; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films; Magnetic properties of surface, thin films and multilayers; Magnetic semiconductors; Mathematical analysis; Oxides; Physics; Studies of specific magnetic materials; Thin films; Vacancies; X-ray diffraction topography; Zinc; Zinc oxide; Thin films; X-ray diffraction topography; Oxides; Ab initio calculations; Magnetic properties; Vacancies; Doping; Magnetic moments; XRD; MOCVD; Semimagnetic semiconductors; Defects; Density functional method; Zinc oxide; Ferromagnetism; Heat of formation; Cadmium additions
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.01.247

•ZnO:Cd thin film grown on c-sapphire substrate by MOCVD method.•RTFM in ZnO:Cd thin film is detected by SQUID magnetometer measurement.•DFT theory is conducted to elucidate the mechanism of RTFM in Cd-doped ZnO. Room-temperature ferromagnetism is detected in undoped and cadmium-doped ZnO (ZnO:Cd) thin film grown on c-plane sapphire substrate by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition method. To elucidate the origin of ferromagnetism, a theoretical study based on density functional theory is conducted, focusing on the role of the neutral cation vacancy on the appearance of magnetism in Cd-doped ZnO thin film. The calculations revealed that Cd substitution at Zn sites contributes to the long-ranged ferromagnetism in ZnO by lowering the formation energy of Zn vacancies and thereby stabilizing Zn vacancies from which the magnetic moments originate.