Structural study of Mn-doped ZnO fi lms by TEM

Authors

Xingzhong Li, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Jun Zhang, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

December 2006

Comments

Published in Solid State Communications 141 (2007), pp. 398–401. Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. Used by permission. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00381098

Abstract

The structural study of diluted magnetic semiconductors is important for interpreting the ferromagnetic behavior associated with the materials. In the present work, a series of low concentration Mn-doped ZnO thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition was studied by electron microscopy. All films show the wurtzite structure with (001) preferred growth orientation on the Si substrate. Electron diffraction experiments indicate the deterioration of the growth orientation in some areas of the films with increasing Mn concentration, and the existence of a secondary phase, of Mn₂O₃-type, in the films with larger Mn concentrations. High-resolution electron microscopy images confirm the existence of the secondary phase in the grain boundary of the Mn-doped ZnO phase. The magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO are discussed in relation to the structures of the films.