Microstructure and transport properties of ZnO:Mn diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films

Abstract

Microstructural studies using transmission electron microscopy were performed on a ZnO:Mn diluted magnetic semiconductor thin film. The high-resolution imaging and electron diffraction reveal that the ZnO:Mn thin film has a high structural quality and is free of clustering/segregated phases. High-angle annular dark field imaging and x-ray diffraction patterns further support the absence of phase segregation in the film. Magnetotransport was studied on the ZnO:Mn samples, and from these measurements, the temperature dependence of the resistivity and magnetoresistance, electron carrier concentration, and anomalous Hall coefficient of the sample is discussed. The anomalous Hall coefficient depends on the resistivity, and from this relation, the presence of the quadratic dependence term supports the intrinsic spin-obit origin of the anomalous Hall effect in the ZnO:Mn thin film.