In this paper we show that ferromagnetism can be induced in pure TiO2 single crystals by oxygen ion irradiation. By combining x-ray diffraction, Raman-scattering, and electron spin resonance spectroscopy, a defect complex, i.e. Ti 3+ ions on the substitutional sites accompanied by oxygen vacancies, has been identified in irradiated TiO2. This kind of defect complex results in a local (TiO6−x) stretching Raman mode. We elucidate that Ti 3+ ions with one unpaired 3d electron provide the local magnetic moments.Recently, ferromagnetism has been observed in nonmagnetically doped, but defective oxides, including TiO 2 1,2,3,4 . This kind of observation challenges the conventional understanding of ferromagnetism, which is rather due to spin-split states or bands. Thus, one fundamental question must be answered: where are the moments located? Intensive theoretical work has been performed to understand the ferromagnetism in defective oxides 5,6,7 . In these papers, the triplet states of p-like electrons, located at cation or oxygen vacancies, yield the local moments, leading to a kind of ferromagnetism without the involvement of 3d electrons. Experimentally the ferromagnetism in undoped TiO 2 has been found to relate with oxygen vacancies (O V ) 2,3 , however, its mechanism remains unclear. It is worth to note that Ti 3+ ions with one 3d electron are usually generated in slightly reduced TiO 2 . When O is removed, the excess electrons are unpaired 8 . They can occupy the nearby localized Ti 3d orbit and therefore convert Ti 4+ ions to Ti 3+ ions. In a reduced rutile TiO 2 (110) surface, such a defect complex, Ti 3+ -O V , has been well studied by first-principles calculations 9,10 and experimentally by resonant photoelectron diffraction 11 . Therefore, experimental work is needed to clarify whether the magnetic moments in defective TiO 2 is due to unpaired 3d electrons localized on Ti 3+ ions.Ion irradiation is a non-equilibrium and reproducible method of inducing defects. Energetic ions displace atoms from their equilibrium lattice sites, thus creating mainly vacancies and interstitials. The amount of defects can be controlled by the ion fluence and energy. In this paper, we irradiated rutile TiO 2 single crystals with 2-MeV O ions, resulting in a projected range of 1.52 µm and a longitudinal straggling of 0.16 µm as calculated by SRIM code (The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter) 12 . As a result of this irradiation, the formation of Ti/O vacancies/interstitials is expected 12 . We selected high-energy oxygen ions as projectiles to avoid the introduction of foreign elements. Moreover, from a ballistic point of view, the creation of oxygen vacancies is more efficient, e.g., by a factor of 1.5 larger than the Ti-vacancy creation. From SRIM calculations it is also evident that, at the given energy, the maximum atomic concentration of the implanted oxygen ions is by a factor of 500 smaller than the concentration of oxygen recoils. For the region of maximum defect creation, i.e., at the end of the ion range, those project...

Abstract:Unexpected ferromagnetism has been observed in carbon doped ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 127201 (2007)]. In this letter, we introduce carbon into ZnO films by ion implantation. Room temperature ferromagnetism has been observed. Our analysis demonstrates that (1) C-doped ferromagnetic ZnO can be achieved by an alternative method, i.e. ion implantation, and (2) the chemical involvement of carbon in the ferromagnetism is indirectly proven.

In this paper, a correlation between structural and magnetic properties of Fe implanted ZnO is presented. High fluence Fe + implantation into ZnO leads to the formation of superparamagnetic α-Fe nanoparticles. High vacuum annealing at 823 K results in the growth of α-Fe particles, but the annealing at 1073 K oxidized the majority of the Fe nanoparticles. After a long term annealing at 1073 K, crystallographically oriented ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles were formed inside ZnO with the orientation relationship of ZnFe 2 O 4 (111)[110]//ZnO(0001)[1120]. These ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles show a hysteretic behavior upon magnetization reversal at 5 K.

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Nowadays ferromagnetism is often found in potential diluted magnetic semiconductor systems. However, many authors argue that the observed ferromagnetism stems from ferromagnetic precipitates or spinodal decomposition rather than from carrier mediated magnetic impurities, as required for a diluted magnetic semiconductor. In the present paper we answer this question for Fe-implanted ZnO single crystals comprehensively. Different implantation fluences and temperatures and post-implantation annealing temperatures have been chosen in order to evaluate the structural and magnetic properties over a wide range of parameters. Three different regimes with respect to the Fe concentration and the process temperature are found: 1) Disperse Fe$^{2+}$ and Fe$^{3+}$ at low Fe concentrations and low processing temperatures, 2) FeZn$_2$O$_4$ at very high processing temperatures and 3) an intermediate regime with a co-existence of metallic Fe (Fe$^0$) and ionic Fe (Fe$^{2+}$ and Fe$^{3+}$). Ferromagnetism is only observed in the latter two cases, where inverted ZnFe$_2$O$_4$ and $\alpha$-Fe nanocrystals are the origin of the observed ferromagnetic behavior, respectively. The ionic Fe in the last case could contribute to a carrier mediated coupling. However, their separation is too large to couple ferromagnetically due to the lack of p-type carrier. For comparison investigations of Fe-implanted epitaxial ZnO thin films are presented.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figure