Ferromagnetism of zinc oxide nanograined films

Abstract

The reasons for the appearance of ferromagnetic properties of zinc oxide have been reviewed. It has been shown that ferromagnetism appears only in polycrystals at a quite high density of grain boundaries. The critical size of grains is about 20 nm for pure ZnO and more than 40 μm for iron-doped zinc oxide. The solubility of manganese and cobalt in zinc oxide increases significantly with a decrease in the size of grains. The dependences of the saturation magnetization on the concentrations of cobalt, manganese, and ion are nonmonotonic. Even if the size of grains is below the critical value, the ferromagnetic properties of zinc oxide depend significantly on the texture of films and the structure of amorphous intercrystallite layers.