A series of Mn-doped ZnO films have been prepared in different sputtering plasmas by using the inductively coupled plasma enhanced physical vapour deposition. The films show paramagnetic behaviour when they are deposited in an argon plasma. The Hall measurement indicates that ferromagnetism cannot be realized by increasing the electron concentration. However, the room-temperature ferromagnetism is obtained when the films are deposited in a mixed argon-nitrogen plasma. The first-principles calculations reveal that antiferromagnetic ordering is favoured in the case of the substitution of Mn^2+ for Zn^2+ without additional acceptor doping. The substitution of N for O (NO^-) is necessary to induce ferromagnetic couplings in the Zn-Mn-O system. The hybridization between N 2p and Mn 3d provides an empty orbit around the Fermi level. The hopping of Mn 3d electrons through the empty orbit can induce the ferromagnetic coupling. The ferromagnetism in the N-doped Zn-Mn-O system possibly originates from the charge transfer between Mn^2+ and Mn^3+ via NO^-, The key factor is the empty orbit provided by substituting N for O, rather than the conductivity type or the carrier concentration.
A high-quality Ga2O3 thin film is deposited on an SiC substrate to form a heterojunction structure. The band alignment of the Ga2O3/6H-SiC heterojunction is studied by using synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy, The energy band diagram of the Ga2O3/6H-SiC heterojunction is obtained by analysing the binding energies of Ga 3d and Si 2p at the surface and the interface of the heterojunction. The valence band offset is experimentally determined to be 2.8 eV and the conduction band offset is calculated to be 0.89 eV, which indicate a type-II band alignment. This provides useful guidance for the application of Ga2O3/6H-SiC electronic devices.
This paper reports that the (Ga, Co)-codoped ZnO thin films have been grown by inductively coupled plasma enhanced physical vapour deposition. Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed for the as-grown thin films. The x-ray absorption fine structure characterization reveals that Co2+ and Ga3+ ions substitute for Zn2+ ions in the ZnO lattice and exclude the possibility of extrinsic ferromagnetism origin. The ferromagnetic (Ga, Co)-codoped ZnO thin films exhibit carrier concentration dependent anomalous Hall effect and positive magnetoresistance at room tempera- ture. The mechanism of anomalous Hall effect and magneto-transport in ferromagnetic ZnO-based diluted magnetic semiconductors is discussed.