Influence of vanadium concentration on the microstructure and magnetic properties of V-doped ZnO thin films

Vanadium doped ZnO thin films (Zn(1-x)V(x)O, where x=0.05 or x=0.13) were grown on c-cut sapphire substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. Their structure and magnetic properties were examined in relation to the doping concentration. All deposited films were highly oriented along the c-axis and exhibited ferromagnetic behavior with a Curie temperature up to 300 K. The crystal structure was found to be better for layers with lower vanadium concentration. The films had a porous fine-grained microstructure and a column-like character as the V concentration was reduced. A weak dependence of magnetization on temperature was observed. The saturation magnetization was found to be strongly dependent on the crystal structure, grain size and V-ion concentration. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.