Competing magnetic effects due to the incorporation of oxygen in thin films of (ZnCo)O

Abstract

We have investigated the magnetic properties of ZnCoO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition from targets made from pure ZnO combined with metallic Co, CoO or Co₃O₄ as a function of oxygen pressure in the deposition chamber. We find that the structural and magnetic properties of films grown from targets containing CoO or Co₃O₄ are similar and can be mapped on to each other by assuming that the films made from CoO require some additional oxygen to make them the same as those grown from Co₃O₄. The data suggest that the magnetism in these films is due to oxygen vacancies. Radically different properties are seen for the films grown with metallic Co in the target. In this case, there is structural evidence for the production of Zn vacancies as oxygen was added during deposition and this was accompanied by a strong increase of the magnetisation. In contrast, there was very little difference seen between the magnetic properties of the targets, which were all found to be paramagnetic, even after further annealing in air.