Room temperature spintronic material - Mn-doped ZnO revisited

We report the first observations of ferromagnetism above room temperature for small atomic percentages of Mn doped in ZnO. In a homogeneous bulk pellet sample sintered at low temperatures (similar to 500degrees C Mn is found to carry an average moment of 0.16 mu(B) per Mn ion. We have obtained room temperature ferromagnetic ordering in samples containing around 2% Mn in the form of powder, bulk pellets and 2-3 mum, thick transparent laser-ablated films. The new capability to fabricate ferromagnetic Mn-doped ZnO semiconductors promises new devices related to spintronic devices as well as magneto-optic components. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.