Optical and Magnetic Properties of ZnO:V Prepared by Ion Implantation

Abstract

We report on the optical and magnetic properties of the magnetic semiconductor Zn(V)O fabricated by implantation of 195 keV 51V+ ions into bulk ZnO:Al grown by a hydrothermal technique. Two sets of the samples, containing N d –N a ∼ 1015 cm−3 and 1018 cm−3, were implanted to doses of 1 × 1015 cm−2, 3 × 1015 cm−2, and 1 × 1016 cm−2. The ion implantation was performed at 573 K. To remove irradiation-induced defects, the samples were annealed in air at 1073 K. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements of Zn(V)O films were carried out at temperatures from 10 K to 300 K. The effects of implantation dose and free carrier concentration on the magnetic properties of Zn(V)O were studied using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. Ferromagnetism has been observed in annealed highly conductive samples implanted to 1 × 1016 cm−2. The PL studies of ZnO bulk samples implanted with V+ have revealed that thermal annealing at 1073 K restores to a large extent the optical quality of the material. A new emission line centered at 3.307 eV has been found in the PL spectrum of the highly conductive samples implanted to the dose of 1 × 1016 cm−2, which is most probably due to complexes involving V ions.