Role of carrier and spin in tuning ferromagnetism in Mn and Cr-doped In2O3 thin films

Abstract

Mn and Cr-doped In2O3 films with Sn codoping were deposited on sapphire substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The ferromagnetism of Mn-doped In2O3 films shows reversible behavior, which can be switched between “on” and “off” states by controlling the carrier density via varying Sn concentration. The enhanced ferromagnetism in Cr-doped In2O3 films is observed due to the significant increase in the carrier density with Sn doping, and the saturation magnetization can reach 2.10 μB/Cr. Most importantly, both of the experiment results reveal that the carrier density and the net spin are two crucial factors for producing and tuning ferromagnetism.