Yan Shi-Shen

Oxide magnetic semiconductors: Materials, properties, and devices

We give a brief introduction to the oxide (ZnO, TiO2, In2O3, SnO2, etc.)-based magnetic semiconductors from fundamental material aspects through fascinating magnetic, transport, and optical properties, particularly at room temperature, to promising device applications. The origin of the observed ferromagnetism is also discussed, with a special focus on first-principles investigations of the exchange interactions between transition metal dopants in oxide-based magnetic semiconductors.

Giant Magnetoresistance in La0.67Ca0.33MnO3/Alq3/Co Sandwiched-Structure Organic Spin Valves

La0.67Ca0.33MnO3/Alq3/Co sandwiched-structure organic spin valves are fabricated by vacuum thermal evaporation method. A giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of 14% is observed at low temperature 100 K. At 30 K, the magnetoresistance can increase to 50%. The large GMR of the device is attributed to the high spin polarization and low conductivity of the La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 contact. The magnetoresistance ΔR/R and the coercive field of the Co electrode depend strongly on temperature. The large high-field magnetoresistance reported on La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/Alq3/Co organic spin valves [Nature 427 (2004) 821] is not observed in our La0.67Ca0.33MnO3/Alq3/Co organic spin valves.

Variations from Zn1−xCoxO Magnetic Semiconductor to Co–ZnCoO Granular Composite

We investigate the variations from as-deposited Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductors to the post-annealed Co–ZnCoO granular composite. The as-deposited Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductor deposited under thermal non-equilibrium conditions is composed of Zn1−xCoxO nanograins of high Co concentration. The room-temperature ferromagnetism with high magnetization and large negative magnetoresistance are found in the as-deposited samples. By annealing, the samples become of granular composite consisting of the Co metal grains and the remanent Zn1−xCoxO matrix. Although the magnetization is enhanced after annealing, the spin-dependent negative magnetoresistance disappears at room temperature. The magnetoresistance observed in the annealed samples in the high field region has no relation with the ferromagnetism, which in turn indicates that the room-temperature ferromagnetism and large negative magnetoresistance observed in the as-deposited are the intrinsic properties of the Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductor.

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Co2MnSi Thin Film with a Low Damping Constant

Co2MnSi thin films are made by magnetron sputtering onto MgO (001) substrates. The crystalline quality is improved by increasing depositing temperature and/or annealing temperature. The sample deposited at 550°C and subsequently annealed at 550°C (sample I) exhibits a pseudo-epitaxial growth with partially ordered L21 phase. Sample I shows a four-fold magnetic anisotropy, in addition to a relatively weak uniaxial anisotropy. The Gilbert damping factor of sample I is smaller than 0.001, much smaller than reported ones. The possible reasons responsible for the small Gilbert damping factor are discussed, including weak spin-orbit coupling, small density of states at Fermi level, and so on.

Enhancement in energy product in Sm-Co/Fe exchange coupled magnetic layers with molybdenum interlayers

Abstract Trilayers of Sm-Co/Mo/Fe were deposited by DC and RF magnetron sputtering on Si (100) substrate at 650 °C. Effect of very thin Mo interlayers on energy product of magnetic layers was studied. All the samples showed strong exchange coupling and single phase behavior. With increasing Mo interlayer thickness, we observed oscillating behavior of saturation magnetization and energy product. The rise in energy product was observed as 22% for 0.3 nm Mo interlayer as compared to sample without Mo interlayer.

Room-Temperature Anisotropic Ferromagnetism in Fe-Doped In2O3 Heteroepitaxial Films

Fe-doped In2O3 films are grown epitaxially on YSZ (100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, the atomic force microscopy, and the x-ray diffraction patterns show that the films have a well defined cubic structure epitaxially oriented in the (100) direction. Room temperature ferromagnetism is observed by an alternating gradient magnetometer. Strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with a remnant magnetization ratio of 0.83 and a coercivity of 2.5kOe is revealed. Both the structural and the magnetic measurements suggest that this ferromagnetism is an intrinsic property deriving from the spin-orbit coupling between the diluted Fe atoms.

The Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties in Cobalt-Doped ZnO Films*

We quantitatively investigate the third-order optical nonlinear response of Co-doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering using the Z-scan method. The two-photon absorption and optical Kerr effect are revealed to contribute to the third-order nonlinear response of the Co-doped ZnO films. The nonlinear absorption coefficient β is determined to be approximately 8.8 × 10−5 cm/W and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ(3) is 2.93 × 10−6 esu. The defect-associated energy levels within the band gap are suggested to be responsible for the enhanced nonlinear response observed in Co-doped ZnO films.

Structural and physical properties of BiFeO3 thin films epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (001) and polar (111) surfaces

The influence of surface polarity on the structural properties of BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films is investigated. BFO thin films are epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (STO) (100) and polar (111) surfaces by oxygen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. It is shown that the crystal structure, surface morphology, and defect states of BFO films grown on STO substrates with nonpolar (001) or polar (111) surfaces perform very differently. BFO/STO (001) is a fully strained tetragonal phase with orientation relationship (001)[100]BFO||(001)[100]STO, while BFO/STO (111) is a rhombohedral phase. BFO/STO (111) has rougher surface morphology and less defect states, which results in reduced leakage current and lower dielectric loss. Moreover, BFO films on both STO (001) and STO (111) are direct band oxides with similar band gaps of 2.65 eV and 2.67 eV, respectively.

Ferromagnetism, variable range hopping, and the anomalous Hall effect in epitaxial Co:ZnO thin film

A series of high quality single crystalline epitaxial Zn0.95Co0.05O thin films is prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. Superparamagnetism and ferromagnetism are observed when the donor density is manipulated in a range of 1018 cm−3−1020 cm−3 by changing the oxygen partial pressure during film growth. The conduction shows variable range hopping at low temperature and thermal activation conduction at high temperature. The ferromagnetism can be maintained up to room temperature. However, the anomalous Hall effect is observed only at low temperature and disappears above 160 K. This phenomenon can be attributed to the local ferromagnetism and the decreased optimal hopping distance at high temperatures.

Epitaxial Properties of Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

High quality Co-doped ZnO thin films are grown on single crystalline Al2O3(0001) and ZnO(0001) substrates by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy at a relatively lower substrate temperature of 450°C. The epitaxial conditions are examined with in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and ex-situ high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The epitaxial thin films are single crystal at film thickness smaller than 500 nm and nominal concentration of Co dopant up to 20%. It is indicated that the Co cation is incorporated into the ZnO matrix as Co2+ substituting Zn2+ ions. Atomic force microscopy shows smooth surfaces with rms roughness of 1.9 nm. Room-temperature magnetization measurements reveal that the Co-doped ZnO thin films are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures TC above room temperature.