Room-temperature ferromagnetism in chemically synthesized Sn1−xCoxO2 powders

Abstract

Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in chemically synthesized powder samples of Sn1−xCoxO2 with x=0.005 and 0.01. Magnetic hysteresis loops are observed at 300K with coercivity Hc∼630Oe, saturation magnetization Ms∼0.133μB∕Co ion, and about 31% remanence. Analyses of the magnetization data of paramagnetic samples with x=0.01 and 0.03, measured as a function of temperature (3–330K) and magnetic field (up to 65kOe), indicate the presence of Co+2 ions with spin S=3∕2. Magnetic data obtained from samples prepared at different temperatures indicate that the observed ferromagnetism for x⩽0.01 might have been triggered by changes in the oxygen stoichiometry.