Antiferromagnetic interactions in single crystalline Zn1-xCoxO thin films

TL;DR

This study reports the fabrication of high-quality single crystalline Zn1-xCoxO thin films to investigate their intrinsic magnetic properties and clarify the nature of Co-Co interactions within the ZnO structure.

Contribution

First-time fabrication of high-quality single crystalline Zn1-xCoxO films enabling detailed study of their magnetic interactions.

Findings

Successful synthesis of high-quality single crystalline films

Quantitative analysis of magnetic properties

Insights into Co-Co interactions in ZnO

Abstract

In a rather contradictory situation regarding magnetic data on Co-doped ZnO, we have succeeded in fabricating high-quality single crystalline Zn1-xCoxO (x=0.003-0.07) thin films. This gives us the possibility, for the first time, to examine the it intrinsic magnetic properties of ZnO:Co at a quantitative level and therefore to address several unsolved problems, the major one being the nature of the Co-Co interaction in the ZnO structure.