Ferromagnetism in oxide semiconductors

Over the past five years, considerable work has been carried out in the exploration of candidate diluted oxide magnetic semiconductors with high Curie temperatures. Fueled by early experimental results and theoretical predictions, claims of ferromagnetism at and above room temperature in doped oxides have abounded. In general, neither the true nature of these materials nor the physical causes of the magnetism have been adequately determined. It is now apparent that these dilute magnetic systems are deceptively complex. We consider two well-characterized n-type magnetically doped oxide semiconductors and explore the relationship between donor electrons and ferromagnetism.