Abstract
In this paper, we report on the microstructural and magnetic properties of CrxAl1−xN thin films with Cr concentrations ranging up to x = (8.5 ± 0.5) at. %. The thin films are sputter deposited on silicon substrates and exhibit a wurtzite type microstructure verified by X-ray diffraction measurements. A vibrating sample magnetometer based measurement equipment is used to investigate magnetic properties of the Cr doped thin films in a temperature range of T = 10 K–300 K, revealing a paramagnetic behavior. With increasing temperature, the temperature independent diamagnetic contribution of the substrate material dominates the overall response characteristics. No room temperature ferromagnetism is observed for all samples investigated.
Highlights
In the last decade a lot effort has been put towards the implementation of room temperature ferromagnetism in doped nitrides and oxides such as AlN,1,2 GaN,1,3,4 or ZnO.4 Inspired by theoretical predictions for the elements reported in Refs. 5–8, experimental investigations have been performed using transition metals (TMs) such as Mn,9 Ni,10,11 Cu,12 and Cr1–3,13–18 as dopants, making such doped AlN a promising candidate to be used as diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) in the rising field of spintronics.1 Besides the predicted ferromagnetic behavior when doped, pure AlN thin films show further beneficial properties such as a high thermal as well as chemical stability and a large bandgap
The thin films are sputter deposited on silicon substrates and exhibit a wurtzite type microstructure verified by X-ray diffraction measurements
It is the objective of this study to investigate the microstructural and magnetic properties of sputter deposited CrxAl1ÀxN thin films synthesized on Si substrates in a temperature range between 10 K and 300 K
Summary
In the last decade a lot effort has been put towards the implementation of room temperature ferromagnetism in doped nitrides and oxides such as AlN, GaN, or ZnO. Inspired by theoretical predictions for the elements reported in Refs. 5–8, experimental investigations have been performed using transition metals (TMs) such as Mn, Ni,10,11 Cu, and Cr1–3,13–18 as dopants, making such doped AlN a promising candidate to be used as diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) in the rising field of spintronics. Besides the predicted ferromagnetic behavior when doped, pure AlN thin films show further beneficial properties such as a high thermal as well as chemical stability and a large bandgap. In the last decade a lot effort has been put towards the implementation of room temperature ferromagnetism in doped nitrides and oxides such as AlN, GaN, or ZnO.. Incorporation of Si22 and Mg23 in AlN are reported to introduce ferromagnetism with Curie temperatures up to 300 K and 380 K, respectively. The detailed mechanism behind the reported observations is still not clearly understood and requires further investigations. It is the objective of this study to investigate the microstructural and magnetic properties of sputter deposited CrxAl1ÀxN thin films synthesized on Si substrates in a temperature range between 10 K and 300 K. Due to the nonnegligible influence of the substrate material on the overall magnetic measurements the importance of an accurate characterization of the background is demonstrated
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